Stolen Moments
by Mooncat99
Summary: Moments we haven’t seen, moments we've seen and just what Logan and Veronica may have thought during them throughout Season 1. LoVe.
1. Of bongs and crowbars

Title: Stolen Moments

Author: Mooncat

Rating: K+

Summary: Moments we haven't seen, moments we've seen and just what Logan and Veronica may have thought during them throughout Season 1. LoVe.

Disclaimer: I do not own Veronica Mars, just burrowing the characters and scenes.

Copyright: Sarah Diaz 2006

Thanks: To Melmenetkwe, who was so nice to offer her invaluable beta skills and makes sure my English doesn't sound too much like German.

Author's Note: There are many scenes throughout Season 1 where I couldn't help but think: What's going on in their head there? And even more scenes that I can imagine happened in the background. So here they are. Hope you enjoy it!

_**Stolen Moments**_

**I Of Bongs And Crowbars**

**(Pilot)**

Feeling eyes on him, Logan looked up to see just who was focused on him. It didn't take him long to spot the source.

Veronica.

Who else? He leaned against a post and, for a moment, he watched her himself, noticing the thoughtful expression on her face. There was no longing anymore in her expression, not for a long time now and Logan was glad for it. It made it easier for him to remember that this girl wasn't his friend anymore. He wondered what had her thoughts this occupied that she hadn't even noticed yet that he had spotted her staring.

Suddenly though, he could see her coming back to the here and now also growing aware of his staring back. He smiled at her and she visibly tensed.

She had every reason to. He for sure wouldn't let an opportunity to taunt her like this one simply pass by. Getting an idea, he quickly sat down on an unsuspecting Duncan's knee. He felt his best friend tense behind him, hear him asking what had gotten into him, but Logan kept his eyes steady on Veronica as he leaned back against Duncan's chest, muttering to Duncan to simply go with him. Sending her over a knowing smirk, he started to rub his hands over his chest in a seemingly lecherous, suggestive way. Though he knew for a fact that Veronica didn't stalk Duncan, as it was the general rumor, one he had no qualms to fuel, he still knew that Veronica wasn't over Duncan yet, despite them not being together anymore since almost a year now and counted on his tease being very effective in striking that nerve.

Just like he strongly suspected that his best friend wasn't completely over his ex-girlfriend as well yet. And sure enough, the moment Duncan understood what Logan was doing, he shoved him off his lap so forceful that Logan actually had to catch himself from falling to the ground. Once he regained his balance, he sat down on the bench with his back to the table, laughing over to Veronica's table while he clapped his hand once and then pointed at her. Veronica met his eyes with narrowed eyes on her own.

Oh yeah, he had hit just the right nerve.

Then though, she broke their eye contact by turning her attention on the guy sitting vis-à-vis from her now.

Logan did a double take. Wait, where had that guy come from? He had been so focused on Veronica he hadn't noticed the black guy sitting down at her table. Logan frowned. Who was he anyway? And how come he sat down at Veronica's table? Everyone at Neptune High knew better than sit down there.

He turned his head to look back at his friends. "Does anyone know who that guy sitting with Veronica is?"

Madison glanced over and shrugged. "The new kid, Flannel or something like that. Probably hasn't heard about her yet," she told him. With her job in helping out in the registration office she always knew the latest news, especially about the new kids. But if they didn't belong to the 09ers, she simply ignored them, not bothering to keep the details like, oh, correct names.

Well, that would explain it, Logan thought, looking back to Veronica, now seemingly deeply engrossed in her conversation with the guy.

"Isn't that the flagpole guy?" Shelley asked.

Logan looked over to her. "Flagpole? The bikers tucked another guy to the flagpole?"

"Yeah, didn't you see him?" Madison asked. "Oh right, you were late today, weren't you?"

Logan nodded.

"Mars had to ruin the fun anyway, cutting him down," Dick said, coming up to their table and making a face.

"She cut him down?" Logan asked.

Why wasn't he surprised? She always had that strike in her, her need to help people out. And she always had had a soft spot for the new kids at school. He should know. After all, he too had once been the new kid.

"Yeah, and while doing so threatened to castrate Toni with her knife. Gee, that girl's seriously sick," Dick answered with a shake of his head.

Logan glanced over to Duncan who had yet a word to say. Usually, when the name calling part on Veronica started, it was the time when Duncan left. This time though, he didn't show any signs of leaving. Instead, he stared intently over to Veronica's table, a frown appearing between his eyes. Raising an eyebrow, Logan turned back around to see what had captured his friend's attention – and felt himself tense slightly.

In the short time he hadn't paid attention, the PCH biker gang had Veronica's table surrounded with Eli 'Weevil' Navarro, their leader, talking to the new guy. Logan didn't know the bikers very well but he didn't think that Navarro was too pleased with the guy _not _tacked to the flagpole anymore – or the person who had cut him down.

And sure enough, the group shifted a little as Weevil frowned and went over to loom over Veronica, who stared up at the biker seemingly unaffected.

Uneasy, Logan watched Veronica facing off the biker gang. True, he and Veronica Mars were enemies. That didn't mean though that he liked to see the biker gang harassing her. He saw Veronica getting that certain look in her eyes she always had when she was going to wiseass.

Heaven knew he had seen that look directed towards him more times than he could count in the last year.

But hell, she couldn't think that those idiots would simply let her do that and do nothing about it! There was not one who hadn't already a rap sheet! She should know that after all, most of them could thank her dad for said rap sheet. And sure enough, one of the guys, Felix Toombs, seemed to lose it after her comment, heading over to her, his hands going to – his pants?

Before Logan even realized what he was doing, he had sprung halfway up from his seat, ready to head over there. Not that he wanted to help Veronica. But he'd be damned if he let the bikers hurt her.

Besides, it was always fun to confront the bikers.

Luckily though, Vice Principal Clemmons showed up at that moment and broke up things before anything got out on hand – or before Logan made himself look like an idiot. With a frown, he sat back down.

Just what had he thought he was doing? He had been close to rush over there and start a fight with the bikers over _Veronica_. This was ridiculous. He hated Veronica. And he had good reason to. She had betrayed him and Duncan and Lilly and pretty much everyone who thought she had been a friend. So why would he care if she had a run-in with the bakers or anyone else for that matter?

Once again he glanced over to Duncan and their eyes met for a moment. Finally, Duncan shook his head and got up, leaving without another word.

Sighing, Logan shook his head.

Momentary insanity.

That must have been it.

* * *

"Hey, there's Veronica!"

Damn.

Veronica knew that voice only too well - and the owner of the voice. They haunted her for almost a year now. And before that year… Yeah well, she didn't want to think about that time now.

It was long forgotten past.

So instead, she tried to hurry, hoping to get away before Logan managed to catch up with her and mock her a little bit more. Truth was, even when she didn't let it show anymore, she still dreaded with what clever little hints Logan would come up next in order to hurt her. He sure had mastered in that art. Okay, when it all had begun, it had been easy to inflict pain with words.

She had been that weak.

Not anymore though.

Yet, Logan Echolls still managed to find a comment or do something that would get to Veronica, try what she may to not let it happen.

But that damn bastard just knew her too well. He knew almost every sore point she had and had no problem to hit them again and again and again. Like yesterday, when he had taunted her with his act on sitting on Duncan's lap and his eyes never leaving hers. He had known exactly how much it would affect her, even if she knew what he was trying to do.

And with the luck she had lately, she wasn't too surprised that Logan didn't leave her alone this time either and pulled up to keep pace with her in his big, ugly X-Terra.

"Hey Ronnie," Logan called out and Veronica tried hard not to react to his old nickname of her. She hated when he used it, it drove reality home way too much, a reality, where her best friend was dead and her other friend hated her. Thank God he didn't use Ronnie often anymore.

Sometimes she wondered if it brought up as painful memories for him as it did for her and that was why he seldom used that special weapon of his against her.

"Hey, we've decided that we'd, uh, we'd rather surf than study today, you wanna come with?" Logan asked. "Duncan will promise to take his shirt off. Does that sweeten the pot?" he added with glee.

Veronica continued to walk along and told herself over and over to ignore him. So what if a year before, this question to accompany them would actually have been an honest suggestion? It meant nothing.

"Does it make you horny?" Logan wanted to know, smirk evident in his voice and a sideward glace confirmed it. "Hex DK, flex for your ex!"

Okay, that one was easier to ignore. It was too ridiculous to really hurt like some of Logan's other remarks. But Veronica wasn't so stupid to let him know that. Should he only believe that these comments about her and Duncan got to her… At least then it wouldn't be something else, something that really would hurt.

"Shut up, Logan!"

When she heard Duncan's protest, Veronica suppressed a shake of her head. Sure, Duncan had never participated in the name calling and other sick little games Logan and Co had started against her after she had made clear that she would stand with her Dad, no matter what. No, he had just broken up with her, without giving her even a word of warning or explanation and ever since then gave her the cold shoulder and that had happened even before the war between her and the 09ers had begun. And he had sat by countless times while Logan went after her, hardly ever saying anything. Dimly, she wondered why he protested today of all days, but then she pushed that thought far away.

Besides, she had other things to worry about. Like Logan, who simple wouldn't give up, still keeping pace with her. "Hey, hey, hey!"

Exasperated, Veronica stopped and turned to face him, realizing with resignation that he just wouldn't leave her alone.

He came to a stop as well and leaned out of the window, holding out a hipflask towards her. "What do you say to a little hooch, huh?" His eyes were laughing at her. "What's the matter, aren't you your mother's daughter? Hmm?" he asked with a devilish smile, the only warning for Veronica to brace herself for his next attack. "Now there was a woman who could drink. Hey, what's she up to nowadays, maybe she'll join us. Do you know where she is?" Logan wanted to know and the hard shine in her eyes showed that he was well aware of just what painful daggers he had sent her way, hitting dead on. "Any clue?"

Damn that asshole!

Bringing up her mother was just not fair; it was an all time low, even for him, and God knew that he made a point to hit below the belt on a regular basis.

Damn it, damn it, damn it!

This time, when Duncan intervened, she was only thankful. She didn't let it show, she wouldn't give Logan that much power, but still, when he grabbed Logan's shoulder and told him to leave her alone, she was relieved, because this time, she hadn't any comeback ready for Logan.

Logan sat back into his seat, laughing, and held up his hands. "Ooh, chill pill, man! All right, all right!" He looked back to Veronica and all of a sudden, he lost the playfulness and just stared at her with contempt for a moment. "Aww, she used to be fun, man. Bye," he said shortly, looked away and floored the gas to race off the parking lot.

Veronica stared after the yellow car, trying to fight off the memories of the last time she had seen her mother before she had run off, abandoning her husband and her daughter right when they would have needed her the most, but failing.

Closing her eyes, Veronica shook her head in order to shake off the unwanted memories. Shit. This couldn't go on like that. She couldn't let Logan continue to do this to her. The problem was that she didn't know how to make him stop. She had tried to give him back everything he dealt out with the same venom. But after he had gotten over the initial surprise that she could actually keep up with him in their little war of wits and striking remarks, she had noticed that her giving back actually only fueled his eagerness and imagination. The bastard actually started to enjoy it! And, if she was totally honest, some sick part of her enjoyed it also. It just felt so damn good to shove everything back into Logan Echolls' stupid grinning face. But with time, it got a little out of hand, not to mention that it miffed her to do something that pleased Logan, so she had changed tactic and gone to stoic indifference. Well, as much as she could manage, but then, in the past year she had learned the hard way to keep in her feelings.

And she was pleased to see that her silence seemed to irritate Logan, yeah, even angering him. For a while, that had felt extremely good. But an enraged Logan could… no, _would_ get even more vengeful than he already was.

Like him bringing up her mother.

Thank God he had no idea about the rape. She shuddered to think about what he'd do with that information.

There was a slight twitch in her heart, one she tried to ignore – but couldn't. She sighed. No. Even if he knew, Logan wouldn't go that low. Veronica knew him well enough for that. After all, they had been friends once. And with him being her best friend's boyfriend and with her being his best friend's girlfriend that meant that they had spent a lot time together. Even before that, after all, they had met and befriended each other when they had been twelve and back then, they hadn't formed couples with the Kanes yet, that had came a couple of years later. In four years being friends and spending almost all of her time together with him, and then a year being the most embittered and spiteful enemies, you got to know a guy pretty well and she knew that Logan wouldn't step so deep and use such a thing against her.

Just like she knew that he would never bring up Lilly against her as she'd never do that to him. But of course, Lilly was a sore spot for both of them, someone they both had deeply loved. Veronica as Lilly's best friend and Logan as her boyfriend.

Then again, the person she had once known as Logan wouldn't have shoved the knife into the wound of her mother's departure either, and then give it even another good twist with obvious glee.

Truth was, Lilly's murder had changed Logan as much as it had changed Veronica. So perhaps she didn't know him so well after all as she always had thought she did. And perhaps it was time to forget about her attempts to stop an open war onto someone who once had been a good friend.

It was time to fight back with hard bandages.

Hmm…

An idea formed in her head and she started to smile.

Oh yeah, that might just be perfect – and the beauty of it, it would deal with two flies at once.

* * *

Ms Murphy looked up from the slip in her hand. "Logan, the Vice Principal wants to see you by your locker."

Surprised, Logan looked up. Meet him by his locker? Clemmons usually only awaited a pupil at his locker when a locker search was going to take place. Those searches usually only affected other kids though, almost never one of the 09ers. The risk that a rich daddy or mommy would take offense at their kid's locker being searched was too great for that. It was no secret that the 09ers ruled this town.

Well, if they wanted to search his locker, sure, no problem. They wouldn't find anything anyway.

But if he took much longer to get there, Clemmons certainly would have no problem to throw him into detention and that would seriously disturb Logan's plans of going down to the beach with Dick and the guys after school and try out the new board he had bought yesterday.

With a shrug, he got up, made a 'later'-sign to Dick and quickly left the classroom to go to his locker where indeed, Clemmons and a deputy waited for him.

He raised an eyebrow. "Mr. Clemmons, You rang?"

"Mr. Echolls, would you please open your locker for us?" Clemmons said stoically, ignoring Logan's flip.

Logan grinned. "But with the utmost delight, Vice Principal Clemmons," he said cordially and wriggled his eyebrows. He turned to his locker and opened the door, leaving it wide open. Not even bothering to look inside, he stepped back to lean against the row of lockers and gave the other men a big smile. "There you go."

Clemmons gave him a look and then turned to look into Logan's locker – and raised his eyebrows. "Well, what's this Logan?" he asked and reached inside.

Shocked, Logan pushed away from the locker wall and stared at the bong that Clemmons had pulled out from his locker.

What…

"This would appear to be a device they use to smoke marijuana," Clemmons said, eyeing the object in form of a cherub in his hand.

The deputy nodded. "That's exactly what it looks like," agreed, eying the bong as well before both their eyes went back to Logan.

Logan, flabbergasted, stared into his locker and back to the bong again. He couldn't believe it! Okay, someone must have planted it there, obviously, because he had never seen that damn bong in his life, not to mention that it wasn't Logan's habit to smoke marijuana. Besides, did Clemmons really think he was so stupid to put it into his locker if it were his?

Fuck.

Who the hell had set him up like that? And how had he gotten past the lock anyway?

Logan looked around, hoping against every logic to have the answer revealed to him like magic.

He caught a movement down at the corner of the corridor and narrowed his eyes.

Perhaps he didn't need magic. Quickly, he moved towards the spot behind the corner, trying to see who was standing there to watch the show. Chances that it was the bastard who was responsible for this little prank were pretty high in his opinion.

It only took a few steps before he got a good view on just who was standing there. His eyes widened, before they narrowed down to slits again. "It was you?" he asked, truly blown away now.

_Veronica?_

But sure enough, the tiny blond girl let her eyes widen and stare innocently at him, giving him a face that clearly read, 'who... _me_?'.

Logan laughed. Who would have thought that she had _that _in her? He had to admit that he was pretty amazed about her little prank. Didn't mean though that he would let her get away with that. Growing serious again, he headed towards her.

"Listen, I know it was you!" he said as he came closer, never leaving her out of his eyes. "This isn't over, okay!" he promised her, coming to a stop in front of her.

Again, she smiled sweetly and made a big show of yawning, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

Logan grinned. "You're so cute." He felt Clemmons grabbing him by his arm and starting to push him away, but Logan resisted. He wasn't yet finished with Veronica. Not by a far way. "Listen, I'll get you for this," he told her, pointing a finger at her.

This was war.

She had the nerve to look unfazed by his threat.

"Let's go," Clemmons said forcefully and pushed him harder.

"I will," Logan assured her, giving her a last look before Clemmons managed to drag him away once and for all.

Grinding his teeth, Logan broke free of the hold on him and held up his hands. "Okay, okay, I'm coming," he hissed, glaring at the Vice Principal.

"There's no need to act so affronted, Logan. This is a serious matter," Clemmons said, frowning.

Logan snorted. "It's not my bong," he clarified. He knew it was to no avail, they wouldn't believe him. But he wanted it to have been said at least once.

"It was found in your locker," the deputy pointed out.

"Because someone planted it there!" Logan told him, annoyed.

"Now come on, Logan, who would have an interest in planting anything in your locker?" Clemmons asked with heavy sarcasm.

Logan looked away. "Oh, I know someone there," he murmured, his blood starting to boil. Oh yeah, Veronica sure had plenty of reasons to do this.

Actually, he should have expected her to attack sooner or later. But since she had stopped to fight back with words and had changed to simply give him an ignorant, cold shoulder, he had thought she just… he didn't know, take it all in a stride or something like that. And even if he had anticipated retaliation, it wouldn't have been something like that. A very clever little scheme against him, he had to admit that.

And it seemed so very un-Veronica like.

Then again, if one thing had gotten clear this past year, then that he obviously had had no idea who Veronica Mars really was. Apparently, four years of friendship with her had all been a lie. Because if she had been that friend he had believed she was, then she wouldn't have stabbed them all in the back.

But to be honest, he wouldn't have given this prank even to the new Veronica he had gotten to know this past year. Okay, when she had started to answer his remarks with biting comments of her own, he had been surprised. But he had had no problem to adapt to that and soon, he had mastered at getting into a wit war with one Veronica Mars.

And just like before, he would have no problem to adapt now.

Veronica wanted to play dirty?

Dirty it was.

* * *

"There you are! I already thought you backed down," Veronica greeted Wallace as he finally came jogging over to her as she waited by her car.

"Who me? Never! You've got to have more faith, girl," Wallace said with a smile.

"I rather go with mistrust. Less disappointment then," Veronica answered dryly and gestured Wallace to get into her car, which he did with a swift jump over the passenger door. Smiling, she got into the driver's seat.

"Man, you've got to lead a really boring life," Wallace commented as she started her car.

"It's not so bad. Every Tuesday I eat ice cream for dinner, you know. Highlight of my week," she gave back, and with a look backwards, pulled out of the parking lot.

"I'll call Newsweek and let them know about this adventure extraordinaire," Wallace laughed and Veronica found herself laughing along with him.

Veronica couldn't help herself - she liked this guy. He seemed to be really nice. And funny. He could be a real good friend.

At that thought, she shook her head. 'Don't get your hopes up, Mars', she told herself firmly. She didn't need a friend. She had well survived the past few months without a friend and she would continue to do so. It wasn't as if she was alone after all. She had her father and the work for the PI office. And Backup. She didn't need anything or anyone else.

Didn't she?

No. Wallace may be new, but sooner or later one of the 09ers will tell him one rumor about her too many and he'll see that socializing with her was social suicide at Neptune High and he was far better off without her as a friend.

Yeah. But then again, he had sat down at her table earlier on again, hadn't he? Despite having must have heard several things about her, judging by the comment he had made when she had joined him at her table.

"Hey, you still in there? If not, I'd appreciate it if you'd let me out before you crash into the next truck and send us all to Heaven."

Coming out of her thoughts, she glanced at him. "Don't worry, this world will have you for a bit longer, yet. I'm just not used to have company in my car that doesn't drool all over the backseat."

Actually, she wasn't used to have company at all anymore, but he didn't need to know that. It would sound way too needy and full of self-pity.

He shot her a wary look. "I hope you mean that dog of yours or I'm seriously never getting into your car again."

Veronica laughed. "Who says you will even get another chance of getting into my car again?"

"Now, you wouldn't let this cool new friend of yours use that very un-cool school bus, wouldn't you?" Wallace replied, wriggling his eyebrows at her.

"Ah, so now we're friends, huh?" Veronica asked with a smile, secretly telling her heart to stop beating so loudly.

"Well, are we not now on the way to get my butt saved or not?" Wallace asked, raising an eyebrow.

Veronica nodded.

"In my book, when you're doing all this to get my fine ass saved, you definitely get to be a friend, especially when this is the same girl that cut me down from the flagpole," Wallace said.

Veronica used a red light to look at him and shrug. "It's no big deal. Believe me, getting to see Logan's ass busted was worth a lot. And getting to see Lamb being made a laughing stock, as the plan entails it, will be even more worth it."

Wallace shrugged. "You keep telling yourself that, friend. Hey," he asked, grinning widely. "You heard that they suspended Echolls?"

As the light sprang back to green, Veronica looked forward again and simply nodded. Yeah, she had heard of that. It was what she had expected Clemmons to do.

"And before I left I heard one of his friends, some blond guy, telling a bunch of other guys that apparently they even took him down to the station where the Sheriff gave him the third degree until his dad showed up with a lawyer," Wallace continued and shook his head. "Boy, they really don't like bongs in lockers, huh?"

With a frown, Veronica gave a shrug in answer, but frowned. Okay, she hadn't minded to get Logan suspended. How she knew him, he would use the free days to hang around the beach and play computer games all day anyway. But she hadn't wanted him to get into any real trouble. What if they charged him? She had thought he'd be safe from that, with him being Aaron Echolls' son, but what if she had been wrong? Then again, Logan could tell them to do a drug screen, couldn't he? That would show that he hadn't taken any marijuana and that together with his name and daddy's lawyers really should guarantee him to be get out of any trouble she may have caused, right?

Probably. And if not… well, she could always make an anonymous call to the police and tell them that she had seen some strange guy putting that bong into his locker. Though she'd really hate to do this.

So Logan better had to see that his privileged status paid off like it was supposed to be.

Besides, once she had gone through with her plan there wouldn't be any evidence left anymore anyway.

Speaking of the plan, there was the Sheriff's department already.

'Time to fire away,' she thought grinning as she pulled into the parking lot.

* * *

"Congratulations, Logan, now you really have outdone yourself! Have you any idea how many calls I've already gotten from reporters to ask me if I plan to send you to the rehab clinic? They don't want to talk about my new movie, they don't want to hear about my donation to the local library, no, all they want to know is if my son is perhaps following his father's example," Logan's father hissed, his face a grimace of anger.

"Dad…" Logan tried to explain, not for the first time.

"What Logan? Still wanna tell me that someone set you up and planted a bong in your locker? Still wanna tell me that it's not your bong? That you don't take any drugs?" his father interrupted him, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Logan's hands balled to fists. "Want me to take a drug test? Fine, I'll do it. I'm not into drugs, least alone marijuana. And if I'd use a bong, you really think it would have the form of a cherub and be hidden in my locker?" he asked defiantly.

"Oh, you will take a test all right, the Sheriff insisted on that, it was his condition to let you off the hook again this time. And you better hope it gets back clean. It's bad enough that you got suspended as it is, we can't need a charge on top of that and the Sheriff made clear that that's what we have to expect should the screen get back positive," his father told him, glaring at him out of cold eyes.

Logan shook his head. "Don't worry, your precious image won't get tarred," he said bitterly, turning away. Boy, this day had gone downhill ever since Clemmons had dragged him into his office. First, the Vice Principal had called his parents to inform them of their findings and tell them that Logan would get suspended for three days. Then, after that they could come and pick Logan up from the station. That's right. The deputy had dragged him down to the station where Sheriff Lamb was only too pleased to interview him, that little bastard. And he had been even more pleased when Hollywood legend and two times Academy Award winner Aaron Echolls, had showed up to come haul out his son's ass, forced to be super nice to the little Sheriff in order to get what he wanted. Something, that hadn't eluded Logan's father.

If Aaron Echolls hated one thing, then to be ridiculed and to have to play nice at the same time. Not to mention the bad press he'd get with a son falling victims to drugs and getting in jail – which would no doubt be the way the press would lance this story.

To say his father was displeased would put it supremely mild. Logan had seen that the second his father had strolled in with one of the lawyers in tow.

And Logan knew only too well what it would mean to have had displeased his father – even if it hadn't been his fault.

Damn that Veronica Mars!

"Your keys."

Having been lost in his smoldering thoughts, he hadn't really paid attention to his father anymore and was startled when he found him standing right in front of him.

"What?" Logan asked, confused.

His father's eyes narrowed. "The keys to your car. Give them to me."

"What!" Logan asked again, this time outraged.

"You think I let you drive around when the whole world thinks you're high on marijuana? I don't think so. The keys. Hand them to me, now," his father demanded.

"Hell no!" Logan exclaimed, taking a few steps back. "You can't take my car! I didn't do anything, damn it!"

He knew this would only make it worse, but he couldn't help it. His T-Bird! His father wanted to take his T-Bird away. The only thing that guaranteed him at least some freedom and a way of escape from here! He couldn't just let his father do that, even if he knew what it would mean for him. And sure enough, next thing he knew, his cheek was burning.

"Don't you dare to disregard my orders, Logan!" his father told him, frowning. "Now hand out those keys and I warn you, I won't ask another time."

For a moment, Logan stared into his father's eyes, before he let his shoulders slump down and slowly reached into his pockets to get out the car keys. No. As much as he loved his car, he didn't want his father asking another time.

His father took them and pushed them into one of his own pockets. Then he looked back at Logan and simply nodded towards his office.

"Really, Aaron, don't you think…" Logan's mom cut in quietly – or tried to.

Her husband threw an icy glare her way. "You keep out of this, Lynn. This isn't your business."

Logan watched as his mother bit her lips and then turned away, heading over to the bar to undoubtedly pour a drink for herself. He looked back to his father who gave another firm nod towards his office, his eyes hardening in warning. Taking a deep breath, Logan straightened, held up his head and walked by his father to go to the closet.

He knew the routine after all.

* * *

"Veronica… your car," Wallace said, uneasy.

Startled, Veronica looked over to where she had parked the Le Baron – and felt herself tense. Great. She knew that Logan sooner or later would find her; she had just hoped it would be much later. And when she was alone. Because she had the feeling that it could get ugly.

Time to face the music.

Resigned, she pushed the controls for the model plane back to Wallace and headed over to her car – and Logan, who had sprawled out on the hood, three of his 09er-buddies surrounding them, each and every one of them a shit eating grin on their faces. One of them, Ian Rakovsky, softly called out to Logan to let him know that Veronica was coming.

Logan looked up and smiled at Veronica as she came to a stop in front of her car. "Hey, Veronica Mars!" he greeted her and sat up, jumping down from the hood.

His voice was way too pleasantly. It actually made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up - more so than the crowbar in his hands, which Logan let twirl ominously. She knew he'd never raise that thing against her. His words though… they were far more dangerous, held the power to inflict pain like that crowbar never could.

But she'd be damned if she let him see her wariness.

"Do you know what your little joke cost me?" Logan asked casually, pacing to the left.

"Well, I'm pretty sure you won't be getting your bong back," she answered coolly, with a little smile as she remembered her prank. It really had been a good one, one of her best - so far, if she might say so herself.

It was apparent that Logan's thoughts didn't duplicate her own as he stopped and turned swiftly, the crowbar swinging along and smashing right into her right headlight. He looked up at her and grinned, twirling the crowbar. "Wrong answer. Would you care to guess again?" he asked, his voice still using that pleasant tone of his.

Veronica briefly looked at her smashed headlight, then back to Logan. What the hell had gotten into him?

"Clearly, your sense of humor," she said sweetly.

Even if she had anticipated it, she still flinched a little as Logan took out her left headlight as well.

"Nope. You're usually so good at pop quizzes," he said and stopped to look at her, his eyes hard. Oh boy, he _really_ was angry, she thought silently. "No, the correct answer is my car," he told her. "That's right. My Daddy took my T-Bird away."

Well, that would explain his anger. Veronica knew just how much Logan loved his yellow monstrosity. After all, she had been with him when he had seen it for the very first time and fell in love with it. She sighed inwardly. She guessed she could say goodbye to her rear lights as well in that case.

Or perhaps not, she thought as Logan pranced towards her, swinging the crowbar to let it rest behind his neck. "And you know what I won't be having?" he asked, coming to a stop right in front of her, smiling. She looked up into his eyes and there was not even the slightest trace of a smile. "Fun, fun, fun," he told her, he told her, his eyes boring into hers, the pleasant tone gone, only to be replaced with a malicious and brutal tone. She knew he was going to make her pay. But she wouldn't go down without a fight,

It was no wonder that neither of them heard the bikers pulling up behind Veronica's car.

* * *

"Uh-oh, Logan…"

Ian's nervous call made Logan break off the staring contest he currently was engaged in with Veronica. Impatiently, he looked up to see what Ian wanted. Couldn't he see that he had more important things to do right now? Like showing one Veronica Mars just how very _amused_ he had been about her prank.

God, it had felt good when he had let the crowbar smash into her headlights, to hear the glass breaking and the shards shatter to the ground.

A cold rage had been growing ever since the bong had been found in his locker yesterday until he couldn't wait any longer anymore to go out and find Veronica to give her a peace of his mind. So he had called Ian, knowing that Ian wouldn't mind driving him around if he got to see Veronica getting what she deserved. Ian never had liked Veronica, even before she had fallen from grace and she had still been under the protection of Duncan and Logan. Oh yeah, he had known that Ian wouldn't pass on the opportunity to see a former protector of Veronica go after her with a passion. He had been a little surprised when he had seen Mike Zeller and Bobby Thompton in the backseat when Ian had come pick him up in his SUV; after all, he hadn't planned to have such a big audience. Not to mention that he wasn't the biggest fan of either of them. They were idiots. Then again, they too had never been Veronica's biggest fans and he could be sure that whatever he planned to do, they wouldn't rat him out for it. Besides, the more people were there to watch, the greater Veronica's humiliation would be.

Not that he had had any idea what he wanted to do, once he had found Veronica. He had decided that he would just act on instinct. All he knew was that he wanted her to pay. Pay for the bong and the suspension he got for it, pay for his father taking away his car, pay for his burning back, pay for being who she was now and who she wasn't anymore.

'She must pay', was the only thought running in his mind.

At first they had tried it at school, only to learn that she had skipped the last class. They had driven by her father's office but she hadn't been there either. So they had driven aimlessly around town some more, hoping to spot her somewhere, with no luck though. The guys had gotten tired when Logan had gotten the idea to try out Dog Beach where she used to go take a walk with Backup. And sure enough, there they had finally spotted her car, and had pulled up beside it. It hadn't had taken him long to make out her tiny blond figure down on the beach, standing with the new kid and – letting a model plane fly? He had briefly wondered about that, knowing that she wasn't much into such toys, but then he had pushed those thoughts away and instead had looked around for her trusted bulldog. He had been relieved when he didn't find him. Looked like she had come alone to meet the black boy. It would make things a lot easier, without having to fear that she would sick Backup on him. True, he and Backup had always gotten along well and he had liked the dog, something that had seemed to be vice-versa. But he also knew that Backup listened to Veronica and if she gave the order…

Yeah well, he hadn't had to worry about that after all.

"What now?" Ian had asked when they had finally found her.

Logan had watched Veronica a moment longer before he had looked at her car – and had smiled. She had cost him his car. So it was only fair if he saw to it that she suffered a little car trouble as well, wasn't it? "We wait. Hey, you've got a crowbar in your car?" he had asked. Upon Ian's nod, he had gone to get it and then had settled on her hood, trusting that it wouldn't take her long to notice him waiting for her.

He hadn't been wrong. It had taken her barely ten minutes to come up to them, the black kid trailing after her and looking uncomfortable, not that Logan had paid him any attention. Oh no, he had had only eyes for Veronica and her fucking self-content manner she had put on. She had no idea what she had cost him. Mentally imaging her car without breaking the stare-down, Logan thought he had taught her a lesson pretty well in the end.

Oh yeah, taking out her headlights had been fun.

But from the looks of it, the fun time was about to be cut very short, Logan thought as he saw the PCH gang pulling up.

Fuck.

Logan assumed that they had come for the new guy. Perhaps even for Veronica as well, to take revenge on her for helping the kid. And this time, there was no Clemmons around to hold them back. Okay, he didn't know if those guys would step so low and beat the hell out of a girl as well – but as long as he was there they wouldn't get the chance. Sure, he hated Veronica… that didn't mean that he'd stand by and watch someone beat her up though. After all, he wasn't yet finished with her. Besides, after the couple of days he had, he wouldn't mind to get part of his stashed up frustration and anger out on a few bikers.

Slowly, he turned, letting the crowbar fall down to his side and stepped away from Veronica – right between her and Weevil, who had gotten down from his bike and was heading towards them.

"What do we have here?" the biker asked, looking at the scene in front of him, the crowbar in Logan's hands and the debris of Veronica's headlights. "Vandalism? No, no, no," he said, shaking his head and coming to a stop in front of Logan. "Only vandalism that happens in this town goes through me," he told Logan, giving him a hard look.

With a start, Logan realized that the bikers weren't here to hurt Veronica… Oh no. It looked like Weevil was actually ready to revenge Veronica's headlights. Shit. That changed everything. "Listen man, I don't have a problem with you," Logan said quietly, staring at the smaller guy.

"That's where you're wrong," the biker said and looked down at the crowbar in Logan's hand. He reached for it. For a moment, Logan thought about holding onto it, but with another look around he decided, it wasn't worth it after all.

"Hey yo, is this O-Town any good?" Felix exclaimed, standing by Ian's car and holding up a CD. "I mean my little sister likes it but you know, she likes ponies and juice boxes too."

His hands balling into fists, Logan glanced at the guys who looked pretty uncomfortable, then back to the bikers. Fuck it all; they had no chance against them. Especially as he suspected that Ian, Mike and Bobby wouldn't be much of a help. And sure enough, when Weevil walked over to Ian's car, Ian hurried to assure the biker that this wasn't Logan's car, but his mother's. So much for loyalty, Logan mused as he watched Weevil smirk at Ian and then smash the crowbar onto the silvery SUV's hood, taking out one headlight and then beating as long onto the hood until there was a visible dent.

"That's it," Weevil announced smugly and turned to Ian, who stared horrified at his banged up car, holding out the crowbar to him. "Head for the hills. I'm not gunna say it twice," Weevil told the guys, the threat clear in his voice.

Disgusted, Logan watched them scramble towards the SUV. Such wimps. He had to see to it that next time he had a run in with the PCH gang; he'd take along more reliable guys. Okay, to be fair, he hadn't expected to have a run in with the bikers, let alone for them protecting Veronica. How come they were ready to help her out anyway? He glanced at Veronica, who had yet to say a word and so far had only watched the happenings with cautious eyes. Hmm, he was pretty sure that she was as surprised at the biker's help as he was.

"Except for you. You say you're sorry."

Turning his attention back on Weevil, Logan saw him coming towards him again, pointing a finger at him. It took him a moment to get the meaning behind those words, but once he did, he laughed. Who the hell did that guy think he was? Giving Logan an order and such a ridiculous one at that? "Rub a lamp," he told Weevil with a smirk.

Weevil smiled back – and slammed his fist into Logan's stomach, hard. As Logan hadn't seen that one coming, at least not so fast, he had had no time to prepare himself for the blow and doubled up with the initial pain. He needed to take a few breaths to make the pain subside.

"I said, say you're sorry," Weevil demanded a second time.

Taking a last deep breath, Logan straightened up again. It took more than a blow to his stomach to get him down, a lot more. For a second, he met Veronica's eyes that watched with obvious discomfort. Nice to know that she was as reluctant to see the hell getting beaten out of him as he had been with her. Not that he had suspected otherwise. She never had been a big fan of violence. He on the other hand was an entirely different case. Not that he liked it especially. He was just used to it.

Logan looked back at Weevil. "Kiss my ass," he told the biker, deliberately challenging.

Weevil didn't hesitate a second and sent a right hook right into Logan's face, who got thrown down by the force of the blow. Logan could feel the familiar taste of blood in his mouth. He had to give it to Weevil that the guy had a mean punch there. Still, the scars on his back hurt more. Slowly, he got up again and looked defiantly over to Weevil, silently challenging him to hit him again. The biker may think that he was week 09er who was easily to bring down – truth was that Weevil had to bring on a lot more to bring Logan down.

After all, he had gone through a hard and never-ending school.

It looked as if Weevil was up for the challenge. He approached Logan again. "Now…"

But at that moment, Veronica intervened. "Let him go," she told Weevil in a final tone.

Weevil looked at her. "Are you sure? I could do this for a while," he said, sounding disappointed.

'So can I,' Logan thought grudgingly. He sure didn't need Veronica to come safe him from the big, bad biker.

Their eyes met for a long moment.

"I don't want his apology," she said quietly, her eyes holding his.

Logan suppressed a laugh. Yeah right. As if _he_ was going to apologize to _her_. He'd rather let Weevil beat him to death before he did that. Judging from the way she looked at him, she knew that as well. Hence her intervening – and the silent request in her eyes for him to just leave. He shook his head and wiped the blood away, glancing at the biker, then back to Veronica.

What the hell. It wasn't worth it anyway.

_She_ wasn't worth it.

Without another word, he turned and went by Weevil over to the SUV who was waiting for him, trying hard not to stumble. Not in front of Weevil and his bikers. Not in front of Veronica. He opened the door to the passenger seat and got in.

""Let's go man, come on. Are you all right?" Ian asked anxiously.

Logan gave a sarcastic laugh. "I hope you guys are comfortable," he said dryly as he slumped into his seat. Really great buddies he had there, watching Weevil beat him and not even trying to intervening.

"What should we have done, man? It was fifteen on four and we all know that none of them goes out without at least a knife carrying with them!" Ian defended their lack of action. "I mean, you've seen what that lunatic has done to the car!" He made a dark face. "Jeez, my parents will kill me for that."

"Whatever," Logan murmured and pulled down the clap to see in the mirror if his nose had been broken with that last hook of Weevil. Nope, all whole, just a bit bloody. And the blow to the stomach hadn't really caused any damage either.

But that wasn't the point. Weevil had no business to get between Logan and Veronica. What they had going on between them was their business, not anyone else's and certainly not Eli Navarro's. He glanced back via the mirror, seeing that Weevil was standing in front of Veronica now – very close. With a humorless laugh he pushed the clap back up. If he wasn't completely dense, he'd say the biker had the hots for Veronica.

Stupid guy. Did he really think Veronica would go after a guy like him? Her, perfect little Veronica who had been Duncan Kane's girlfriend? Her, who was the ex-Sheriff's daughter? Okay, so he wasn't sure just what was the new Veronica's type, so far any guy had known better than to go after her, at least as far as he knew. But he was pretty sure that it wasn't the biker.

Still, he did wonder how it came that the PCH gang suddenly seemed to have Veronica's back. And just what had they wanted initially when they had come by? Had they just driven by and seen Logan and Veronica and thought they'd intervene? Or had they come down to the beach in search for Veronica and/or that new guy? If yes, why?

He didn't know. But somehow, he got a feeling that maybe it was worth trying to find out about that connection between Veronica and the bikers. After all, the way things were between him and Veronica, it was pretty important to know if he had to expect the bikers giving her their protection from now on.

Because he and Veronica weren't finished yet with each other by a long haul and he liked to be prepared.

* * *

"Wow…"

Veronica looked over to Wallace who still seemed to be in a light shock. "You okay there?" she asked with a smile.

Wallace turned unbelieving eyes onto her. "You kidding, sis? I should ask _you_ that!"

Veronica's smile widened. "Me?"

"Yeah! I wasn't the one who got threatened with a crowbar!" Wallace pointed out with raised eyebrows.

"Hmm?" Veronica asked and then laughed. "Oh, Logan. He didn't threaten me with that crowbar," she told him.

"Sure looked like that to me," Wallace said with a frown.

Veronica looked out to the ocean. "Trust me, Logan's a psychotic jackass, but he's not one of those bastards who use crowbars to beat on people. If he beats, then with his own hands," she said. "Besides, he'd never raise his hand against me or any other woman. He's old school that way," she added quietly.

"You seem to know him pretty well for being his enemy," he remarked, still frowning.

Veronica glanced at him and shrugged. "Not really," she said.

It was true. She wouldn't have thought him capable to take out her headlights with that much obvious glee. Apparently she had been wrong. Or she had had seriously misjudged his level of humor. Then again, she wasn't quite sure yet just what consequences he had had because of her prank. Something told her that he hadn't gotten off as easy as she had expected him to, or he wouldn't have been so angry. And his father wouldn't have stripped him off his car. So perhaps it was partly her fault too, what had happened earlier on. She'd see what she could find out, later on. Still… she didn't plan to let him off the hook so easily. Somehow, she'd find a way to let him pay for the damage he had caused, sooner or later.

"And those bikers! First they're ready to kill me and you along with me I guess and then suddenly this Weevil guy defends your honor!" Wallace shook his head. "Don't expect me to see through this whole shit."

He wasn't the only one there. Veronica had been as surprised about Weevil's help as Wallace here – and Logan. He too hadn't expected them to be there to _help_ her. Actually, there had been a tiny moment, when Logan had turned and stepped forward to meet Weevil, where she could have almost sworn that he was ready to help her against the bikers. But that was ridiculous. Why would he want to protect her again, all of a sudden? No, she must have imagined that flicker of the old protector he used to be. Logan sure had no qualms to face off with Weevil anyway. She frowned. Why hadn't he just left? He hadn't even tried to fight back, to her surprise. Good, she was relieved he hadn't, because she was pretty sure there would have been no way for her to break it up then, the bikers would have been on him like the Greeks on the Trojans. She was just glad that Weevil had let him go when she had asked him too. Because she had known that Logan would never, in a million years, tell her he was sorry. He would have rather let Weevil beat him to death than let those three words come over his lips.

Stupid, stubborn, _idiot._

"But you know what?" Wallace asked and Veronica came out of her thought to look back at him, questioningly. Wallace grinned. "I have the feeling that life as your friend will get very interesting, Veronica Mars."

Her heart filling with warmth, Veronica grinned and shrugged. "Don't get your hopes up, Wallace. Trust me, life isn't always this exciting for me."

At least she hoped not.

* * *

TBC!

_(Author's Note: I know, I know, again a new story. But it just that I can't fight off all those bunnies! Be assured that I'm also writing on Rekindling. And on my GG stories. RL just threw me a curveball and my writing time got seriously cut, so it takes even longer to get one of my not exactly short chapters out. Just be patient and you'll get rewarded, I promise! Okay, on another note: You certainly have noticed that English isn't my first language. So I could need a beta for my VM stories, one who's good with grammar and if possible also with modern language and sayings. If someone's interested, please let me know. Hope you enjoyed this one!)_


	2. Of credit cards and flat tires

**Chapter 2: Of Credit Cards And Flat Tires**

**(Credit Where Credit Is Due)**

Logan had had a crappy couple of days. First, the PCH biker gang had crashed their party down at Dog Beach on Friday night, soon followed by the police showing up and ruining the fun anyway. The weekend hadn't been much better. Apparently someone had stolen a credit card from his mother, or rather said a pre-approved one like they got offered on a regular basis, and of course, Daddy dearest had first suspected Logan of the crime. And he didn't bother to first check the credit card list but just went straight to the punishing part. At least this time it only had been three slaps and not the belt again, Logan thought darkly.

Then the news that Mrs. Navarro seemed to be the one who had stolen the card out of the trash had been the next bad surprise. Logan had liked the old lady, she had always been nice to him, though that was not something that was necessarily the case with house helps. Actually, he didn't really believe that it had been her. Probably rather one of her grandsons. They did come to the mansion to pick her up sometimes and this was just something he'd give Weevil or that cousin of his, Chardo. Especially Weevil, that bastard.

Not that that was anything his father wanted to hear. Fact was that the card had been stolen, if by Mrs. Navarro or one of her grandsons didn't matter. He simply called the police and demanded from the Sheriff to have her arrested who had no choice than to follow the order. From what he heard, Mrs. Navarro was now sitting in jail and the thought only fueled Logan's anger. He always thought that those Latin boys loved their moms and grandmas so much but apparently, that was only a myth. After all, so far, from what he had heard, Weevil hadn't yet stepped forward to admit that his grandma was innocent and he had been the one who stole the credit card and then used it for paint jobs and video games.

Jeez, that guy was really some asshole.

Logan hadn't yet forgotten about their last two encounters at Dog Beach and every time he thought about the couple of hits he still owed him, he felt his stomach clench with rage. Oh, when they had shown up to disrupt the perfectly fine party last Friday, he had been so happy to see them. Finally a chance to repay Weevil for those hits and this time, they hadn't been fifteen on four, oh no, this time the 09ers had been far more than the bikers. That dumb Sheriff showing up though had robbed him of his opportunity of payback.

No, Logan definitely didn't have a good weekend, and so far, this morning hadn't been much better.

"What's the matter, baby? You look so sour?"

Coming out of his thoughts, Logan blinked and looked over to his girlfriend, standing right beside him. He shook his head. "Nothing," he muttered.

"You sure?" she asked.

He nodded and drew her in for a kiss, just to shut her up. Caitlin was okay, but boy, sometimes she got on his nerves.

"Okay," she smiled, when they parted, and turned to sit between his legs. "Hey, is it true that they arrested that old woman cleaning for you?" she asked.

"Uh yeah," Logan admitted evadingly. He so didn't want to talk about it.

"She stole from you, right?" Caitlin though asked further.

Logan nodded and leaned away from her to grab himself a slice of pizza. Perhaps she would take the hint now.

No such luck. Caitlin for sure wasn't exactly the brightest gal. Then again, Logan hadn't started to date her for her brains. Still… sometimes he wished he could talk more with her as well, and not just make small talk, have sex, and make out. He wanted somebody that knew how to use their mouth… not in that way really… though that was always nice. But that wasn't the point, she may not know much, but if sex was a class, she'd be one of the star students.

Probably the only reason why he still put up with her.

At that thought, Logan frowned. 'She's your girlfriend,' he reminded himself. He was going out with her, exclusively, for a few weeks now and it was great. They had a lot of fun. Then again, this past week he had hardly seen or talked with her and he couldn't honestly say that he had missed her. Actually, he hadn't even thought about her.

With Lilly, he had always missed her when she wasn't around. And she had been a constant in his thoughts.

But Caitlin was no Lilly.

No one could be that. There was only one Lilly and she was gone now, forever.

Damn, he missed her.

"Hey, who's that guy with Duncan?" Sandra Klein, Caitlin's best friend, asked.

"Hmm, who?" Caitlin asked and thankfully forgot about Mrs. Navarro as she turned her head to see what had caught her friend's attention. "Oh, that's Troy Vandegraff. His father's the architect who built the County Museum. I know him from the marina. Right, he said he was enrolling today."

"He's cute," Sandra said, eying the new guy just as he and Duncan arrived.

"Hey. Everyone, this is Troy, he's joining our school and us for lunch," Duncan introduced him to the group assembled on the couple of 09er tables.

Troy grinned and gave a nod. "Hi," he greeted them.

"Hey Troy," Caitlin drawled and smiled at him.

Right, Logan had already noticed that his girlfriend was awfully enthusiastic about Troy enrolling here on school, but he told himself to ignore the slight jab of jealousy. Instead, Logan nodded to Troy and pointed to a free place. "Good to see you again. There's pizza, if you want," he told him and nodded at the open pizza boxes.

"That's great, thanks," Troy said and he and Duncan sat down.

"So… how you're liking Neptune High so far?" Caitlin asked.

Troy took a bite from the slice of pizza he had served himself and shrugged. "Okay so far. Seems to be your average high school."

"Oh, I think we're a bit above your usual high school," Sandra joined in, smiling at Troy.

"Perhaps," Troy shrugged. "I guess I'll have to wait and see."

"I could give you a tour, you know," Sandra offered.

"Nah, that's okay, Duncan here already showed me around. I think we've got it covered by the end of day, right?" Troy asked, looking at Duncan.

Duncan glanced at Sandra's offended face and quickly looked away, nodding.

"Yeah, well, Caitlin, we have to go to the gym and talk with Ms. Monroe, remember?" Sandra asked after a moment of silence.

"What?"

Sandra glared at Caitlin and stood up. "Oh right…" Caitlin said and slowly got up. "I guess we better go. Bye baby," she said and gave Logan a quick kiss.

Logan nodded and sat up more comfortably, now that Caitlin was gone. "Boy, dude, you work fast. Not many guys manage to piss off Sandra Klein so fast," he told Troy with a grin.

"Who?" Troy asked, innocently.

Logan nodded after the girls.

"Oh…" Troy shrugged and smirked. "Sorry, but not interested," he said.

Logan laughed. "Not your type, huh?"

Duncan shook his head. "Don't be fooled, Logan. Troy's type is anything with boobs and long hair."

"Ah, so up-market, what?" Logan asked grinning.

"Not anymore, my friend, not anymore," Troy though said and slapped Duncan onto his back.

"No?" Duncan asked skeptically, giving his friend a doubtful look.

"Nope, not since that goddess walked my way this morning," Troy told them with a big, wide grin.

"A goddess? Here at Neptune High?" Logan asked amused.

"You bet," Troy said with a nod and sighed. "She walked in when I was in the registration office and simply knocked my breath out."

"Really? That goddess got a name?" Duncan wanted to know with a laugh.

"Unfortunately, they called me into the principal's office just when I was about to ask for her name," Troy admitted with another sigh. "But I intend to find out. I figure it can't be that hard. There can't be many girls like her walking around here."

"Let's see if we can help out. I must admit, I'm fairly eager to see that goddess myself," Logan told him with a chuckle. He waved at the schoolyard. "You see her around here?"

Troy turned to take a look around. "Nope," he answered after a minute, turning back to the boys.

"Too bad," Logan sighed.

"Why don't you describe her then," Duncan offered with a smile.

"Oh, with the outmost pleasure: long legs to die for, tiny, short blond hair, sexy as hell and a smile that simply knocks you over," Troy immediately started to describe her.

Logan frowned. This didn't really ring any bell for him. The only tiny blond one he could think of was Veronica, and surely, Troy wouldn't mistake _her_ for a sexy goddess. "Sorry man, doesn't ring a bell," he said and shook his head. "D?"

Duncan though just stared at Troy for a long moment. "Uh no… No… I don't think so," he said slowly. "You know what? I forgot something. You okay if I split?"

Troy waved him away. "Sure, don't worry about me."

Duncan nodded and quickly grabbed his bag and hurried away. Logan stared after him with a frown. "Yo, I should go as well. See you, T," he said to Troy and got up as well.

Troy nodded and Logan hurried after Duncan. His best friend had left way too quickly and acted way too weird for everything to be all right. And he intended to find out just what had bothered Duncan so much that he nearly had run away.

"Hey Duncan, wait up!" he called out, but Duncan didn't stop. "Duncan!" Logan called out again, more sharply this time.

Finally, Duncan stopped and turned. "What?" he asked impatiently.

"That's a question I could ask you," Logan said with a frown. "What's up with you?"

Duncan shook his head, but avoided Logan's eyes, not something that eluded Logan. "Nothing," he answered and was about to turn away again – when he suddenly froze, staring back to their table.

His frown deepening, Logan turned around to follow his friend's eyes. There still was Troy and obviously, something across the yard had captured the guy's attention as he was staring too. So Logan followed his eyes as well and landed on – Veronica?

He did a double take and looked back at Troy, who was still staring like transfixed at Veronica and then over to Duncan, who now too had his eyes fixed on the tiny blond one. He looked back to Veronica, walking across the yard in an army style mini and shook his head.

"Man, I don't believe it. All this talk about a goddess and the whole time he had been talking about _Veronica_?" Logan chuckled amused and looked back to Duncan. "Can you believe it?"

Duncan blinked and for a moment, their eyes met. Then, Duncan shook his head and simply left without a word. With a sigh, Logan watched him go. Okay, perhaps he hadn't used exactly the right words… but really. Duncan and Veronica were over since a year now, it was really time that his friend finally got that girl out of his head. Especially after everything that had happened, everything she had done to him and his family. For a while now, Logan had thought that Duncan may have finally forgotten Veronica. But that scene right now…

Clearly, Duncan was far from being over a certain tiny blond.

Once again, Logan's eyes trailed over to the little troublemaker. She was now sitting with Fennel at her table, both of them deeply engrossed in some papers they were looking at.

Goddess, my ass, Logan thought sarcastically and looked back to Troy who still had his eyes on Veronica, apparently. Hmm… perhaps, if Duncan saw Veronica moving on…

No.

From the looks of it, Duncan had recognized Veronica immediately from Troy's description and if his reaction was any hint, seeing another guy's interest in 'his' girl only made things worse. Besides, it would really be inexcusable if Troy brought Veronica back into the circle again.

It couldn't happen.

Logan had had a hard time enough to ostracize her as it was. He wouldn't let all that hard work be for nothing.

Determined, Logan walked back to the 09er table, just in time to hear Troy ask Dick about Veronica.

"Who?" Dick asked confused.

Troy rolled his eyes. "Girl, ten o'clock. Long legs, tiny, blond, wears an army chap. Who's she?" he repeated edgily.

Dick looked the way Troy was pointing and laughed. "Dude, you're not talking about Trampy McBitch, are you?" he asked unbelieving.

"Who?" Troy asked with a frown.

Dick grinned back at him. "Trampy McBitch, biggest slut at school, biggest bitch you can imagine." He shook his head and slapped Troy onto his back. "Believe me, she may have nice legs but you don't want to take a dip of her, dude," he assured Troy.

Troy stared skeptically at him and then looked back over to Veronica. "Really? She doesn't seem like that kind of a girl," he said slowly.

"Yeah? Well, looks can be deceiving," Logan said dryly as he rejoined them. "Never heard about serial killers? Not one of them looked like a serial killer but they're just like your average guy." He nodded over to Veronica, a hard look coming into his eyes. "She may look like an angel," he said quietly and turned back to Troy, his eyes boring into his now. "But she's not. She's a devil."

Troy gave him a puzzled look and once again glanced over to Veronica. When he looked back at Logan, he smiled. "Maybe. But you know what? I've been a very bad boy," he said with a shrug and got up. "So I think I'll try my luck anyway."

He didn't wait for anyone at the table to answer him and left – heading over to Veronica.

Dick shook his head. "Boy, that guy's gonna be very surprised."

Logan watched as Troy approached Veronica, but just before he reached her, she got up and hurried away, getting lost in the crowd. Troy seemed a little disappointed, but still confident. He probably told himself he'd just catch up with her another time. And try to meet her again he would, as much was clear from the expression in his eyes. Sooner or later, he'd get to talk to her – and notice that Veronica actually wasn't such a slut as Dick had described her.

Oh, Veronica was many things, but certainly not one to sleep around. Actually, Logan was pretty sure that she was still a virgin - despite the reputation she had here at school. He knew she had been one when Duncan had broken up with her and as she hadn't dated since then…

But she wasn't trustworthy. She destroyed things, people, families.

That was something Troy was going to find out if he was really serious about dating her. Not that Logan worried about the new guy, he hardly knew him. But he worried about Duncan. Since Lilly's death… he wasn't the same anymore. He hardly showed any emotion anymore - actually, Logan wasn't even sure if he still felt much at all anymore. Today, he had showed more reaction than he had seen him showing in a year. Unfortunately though, Logan didn't especially like that kind of reaction he had showed. It had been so… raw, abrupt. Unhealthy.

And it was all Veronica's fault.

As always.

* * *

"There you are! I almost started to believe you forgot!" Caitlin exclaimed annoyed and pushed away from Logan's car as he approached it after school.

With a frown, Logan kissed her hello and then looked down at her. What was she talking about? "Sorry, I got hauled up there," he said evasively.

The anger left her face and she shrugged. "Aww, it's okay. It's not as the mall will disappear just like that, right?" she asked with a smile. "You know, I thought we could go watch a movie afterwards, what do you think?"

The mall?

Oh right… Last week, he had been so harebrained to promise to take her to the mall someday. That they settled on today, on the first day he had his X-Terra back, was beyond him, but Caitlin talked a lot and it might be that he hadn't listened right one day and unknowingly agreed for that someday being today. He sighed inwardly. The mall was the last place he wanted to go right now, especially in his girlfriend's tow. He wanted to go down to the beach with the guys or go home and play some video games.

But no such luck.

So he smiled and beeped his car open, opening the passenger seat door for Caitlin. "No, I guess not. Come on, hop in," he told her and, once she was in, shoved the door close and went around to the driver's side.

Soon, they were on the road to the mall, music blasting out of his boosters. He had pushed in a CD almost immediately, turning it loud, not really in the mood to talk with Caitlin. Not that that stopped her from talking. She rambled on and on and on about the latest poll she was doing for the newspaper. In short, it was boring.

"Oh, you'll never guess who showed up in Newspaper class today!" Caitlin suddenly changed topic, giving him a light slap onto the arm.

"Hmm?" Logan noncommittally gave back, hardly interested which of her friends had come by to see her.

"None other than Veronica Mars," Caitlin said, making a face.

That got his attention. "What?" he asked, looking sharply at Caitlin.

She nodded. "Oh yeah. She was babbling something about the counselor sticking her in there for some bogus reason." She snorted. "As if anyone's gonna believe that crap. Everyone knows she probably just joined the class to be closer to Duncan Kane, right?"

So Veronica was now in their newspaper class? Logan hadn't attended the class today, not really in the mood to go there and get grilled about the credit card theft as he was pretty sure it would have been the case.

"Of course Ms Dent totally fell for her. Eric told me that she first went on and on about how good she was in photography and already Ms Dent gave her an assignment for an article, together with Duncan. Poor Duncan. From what Eric said, Duncan looked pretty shocked and annoyed about that." She shook her head. "No wonder."

Well, this got better and better. Duncan was supposed to do an article with Veronica? Perhaps, this recent fallback on Veronica hadn't that much to do with Troy showing his interest in her after all but rather with them simply being pushed together by fate.

Contrary to Caitlin, Logan was convinced that Veronica wasn't in the class on her own free will. If that were the case, she'd have joined the class long ago. Actually, he had halfway expected her to be in this class when the new school year had started. Given her interest at PI work plus her talent in photography it had been only logical to expect her to join the newspaper group. Sometimes, he had wondered if she hadn't joined just because she knew Duncan was in it. And not just Duncan. Most of the pupils in that class were 09ers and Logan had noticed that if she could, Veronica rather avoided those classes, something that was just fine with Logan.

He sighed. No, he wasn't really happy to hear Veronica joining the Navigator. The way he saw it, Veronica was still in too many parts of their life and the last they could need was to have her in yet another one. On the other hand… with Veronica being there, it sure promised to get a lot more interesting in that class than it had been so far.

Logan didn't even notice the smile he had at that thought.

* * *

This day definitely wasn't her day. First, Veronica had to witness Lamb taunt her father, make stupid jokes and gloat right into his face and next thing she knew the counselor told her how concerned she was about her and how disconnected and passionless she seemed to be since Lilly's death.

What the hell did that woman think? That she was cheerful and perky after her best friend had been murdered and every last one of her friends had turned their backs on her? So what, she wasn't the white and pink wearing girl anymore that had always smiled, always had been nice to everyone, always had been eager to please the people around her. That girl had died a long time ago, with Lilly, with her friends abandoning and ignoring her when she would have needed them most, with her mother running away and abandoning her as well in her time of need, with the night when her virginity had brutally been taken from her and the following morning when all the Sheriff had done was laugh into her face when she had tried to report the rape.

She was connected. She was full of passion. Just not for the same things as before. And not exactly things that interested a school counselor.

And now she was stuck in newspaper class. The class in itself didn't bother Veronica much. In fact, she had always been interested in joining the Navigator, knowing that it was a good place to start having her photos published. And the reporter stuff was similar to the PI stuff, if less exciting of course, but still… it had been in the line of work she liked to do.

But she had also known that Duncan would be there. And even worse, Logan. With the way things were between the three of them, she preferred to avoid any place where they all met. Okay, yeah, she was a chicken that way, but at least a chicken that didn't get burnt as much. And with Duncan there, with his indifference towards her and silent acceptance of the way his friends treated her, plus of course Logan and his sharp tongue, she would get burnt, badly.

Yet, here she was now, part of the Navigator and already she was stuck with Duncan, right on her first assignment. Probably, she could be glad it was Duncan and not Logan. Still, she didn't look forward to that trip to Gold Coast at all. At least they had been able to avoid having to drive together. Now, _that_ really would have been uncomfortable, if not downright insupportable.

Then the next blow had come when she had found out that Weevil had turned himself in. Why had he done that? When she had been by his place it hadn't looked at all as if he was willing to do such a thing. Hell, he had chased her away on her mere hint that he might do that for the sake of his grandmother. Good, then she had also suspected him of being guilty. But now that she was pretty much sure that he was innocent after all, after having seen his records and how impossible it had been for him to achieve all the pursuits that had been made with the stolen credit card, he went and turned himself in.

Why?

Was it just to get his grandma out of jail? Or was he covering for someone? But if that was the case, for whom?

She had no idea. Truth was that she hardly knew Weevil. All she knew of him was that he was the leader of the PCH gang, really, but that she had always thought that out of all the bikers, he was the most decent one. Okay, so yeah, he had tucked Wallace to the flagpole and Wallace for sure hadn't been the first one. And yeah, he had threatened her and Wallace and even Backup. Not that that had really scared her. She wasn't afraid of him.

But he had also helped her.

She didn't know why he had decided to help her with Logan. And if one wanted to be honest, he had probably made things only worse. Logan may have bashed out her headlights, but Veronica was pretty sure that most of his anger had left him with that act. Even then, she didn't know what would have happened if Weevil hadn't shown up with his boys, but she knew Logan wouldn't have hurt her. Yeah, she feared Logan, but it was his tongue and his knowledge of her she feared, not his fists. Still, Weevil had helped her and she felt thankful towards him for that. Plus, ever since she had helped him get his boys out of that clinch, he had started to treat her with something almost like respect.

Well, apart of the last time when he had sent her to the devil.

_You think you're this big outsider but, push comes to shove, you're still one of them. You still think like one of them. _

Veronica frowned as she remembered what Weevil had said to her. Did he really believe that she still was one of the 09ers? Jeez, hadn't he seen how Logan and the rest of them treated her? How they shunned her, at every opportunity they got, be it in class, on the school grounds or even anywhere they might meet? Hell, hadn't he helped her against Logan only a little over a week ago? How could he think that she was still one of them? She wasn't. She so wasn't. Actually, she never really had been. The only reason why she had been allowed past the velvet rope to sit at the prestigious 09er tables had been her friendship with Lilly and later, her relationship with Duncan. The moment Duncan had turned his back on her and Lilly had died, she had been shut out of the high and mighty circle of rich and influent kids with parents that lived in the 90909 Zip Code. Okay, her dad had been the sheriff and that did guarantee her a certain position in the harsh high school hierarchy, but that alone wouldn't have been enough to get her _in_. And now, after everything had happened, she didn't really want to get back in.

Sure, she'd be happy if she could live without their glares following her everywhere, without the lies they continued to spread about her. And yeah, it would also be nice to be able to be civil with them again. And if she wanted to be totally honest, she had to admit that she missed a few of those who had once been a friend. But getting back in? No. Not that.

Been there, done that.

She had left them behind, freed herself from them and their stupid rules. Yet, there Weevil was and accused her of still being one of them. Thinking like one of them.

Okay, he was wrong with the first part, but what was about the second? Did she really think like one of them? Like Logan for example? Had she ever thought like them? Veronica wasn't sure, but she thought not. Yeah, she had made her mistakes while she had still been with them, mistakes she regretted. And before, she never really had the courage to speak up when Dick or one of the others treated someone else like dirt just because they weren't born with a platinum credit card.

Then again, she had been awfully fast to believe that Weevil had in fact stolen Lynn's credit card, hadn't she?

Why?

Because judging from his reputation it would have been a logical thought that he was the one behind the theft. And no, she wasn't talking about the reputation he had at school but from the facts she knew from her father. Hadn't he told her only yesterday that he had started to pick up Weevil when he had been twelve?

Still…

There were plenty of other suspects in the Echolls' household. Other servants for example. Anyone of them could have stolen the card out of the trash when he had seen it lying there, almost invitingly. Every person who had visited them around that time could be a suspect too. Okay, given the fact that most of Logan's friends as well as those of his parents were 09ers too, that seemed less plausible. They got those pre-approved cards themselves and for sure had more than enough money of their own. But you never knew. Perhaps one was in financial trouble. Or perhaps some of them just liked to steal.

And let's not forget one very big suspect: Logan.

No, she didn't think that he'd need the money either… but Logan always had been a little troublemaker and that streak in him had only gotten worse since Lilly's death. Perhaps he had taken the card and stirred up all that trouble just to get back at his parents for taking away his car after the whole bong fiasco. Or for something else, she wasn't close enough to him anymore to know about his clinches with his parents. But she had been once and she remembered well that Logan hadn't the best of relationships with his parents, especially with his father.

Oh yeah, that for sure was a possibility.

Somehow, she still didn't really believe in Logan's guilt in this whole thing. If it had been his father, yeah, then perhaps, but his mother? She had always gotten the impression that though Logan wasn't on best terms with his mother, it was still a lot better and close enough for him to not pull such things on her.

Then again, there was a time she wouldn't have thought he'd come after her car with a crowbar either.

All she really knew was that Weevil hadn't been the thief and she intended to prove that by finding out who really had snatched that card. So tomorrow, she's see what she could find out. Hopefully, it would get her through the day until she was supposed to meet Duncan down at Gold Coast.

* * *

When Veronica walked into the newspaper class she was relieved to see that Duncan was nowhere to be seen. She hadn't seen him all day and couldn't say that she was sad about that. Her relief was squashed though when her eyes met briefly with two brown eyes she only knew too well. She felt her back stiffen in anticipation of what he was going to say to her. They hadn't exchanged another word since he had driven away with Ian Rakovsky and the other guys right after Weevil had given him a bloody nose. Sure, they had seen each other around the schoolyard but both of them, she guessed, had been careful to not run into each other – until now when fate didn't leave them any choice anymore. So yes, she was a bit wary of what he might have to say. Considering the fact that the class was full of other 09ers, not to mention his current fling, Caitlin, as well, she guessed he would be on his best.

"Ronnie, hi…" Logan greeted her with a false big grin. "Heard you joined us here at the Navigator. Can't say that I've been surprised. We all know after all just what a thrill seeker you are, don't we?"

She held his eyes for a moment longer before she turned to look for a free place, preferably at the other side of the room, far, far away from Logan Echolls. No such luck. The only free place she spotted was sadly not far from him. Cursing inwardly, Veronica walked over to sit down.

"What's the matter Veronica? Daddy doesn't have enough clientele to keep you busy? So you decided to join us so you can still have your time of poking around stuff that's none of your business?" Logan asked, causing the bunch of 09ers to snicker.

Veronica clenched her jaw and forced herself to ignore the haunting. Thankfully, Ms Dent entered the room at that moment and demanded attention and quietness and not even Logan was disrespectful enough to continue his verbal attack.

Veronica had no problem at all with that and was happy to sit at the computer and work on an essay Ms Dent gave her at the beginning of the class. A few minutes before class ended, Ms Dent had to leave the room for a while though. As on cue, some of the 09ers assembled around Logan and questioned him about the theft that had of course made the rounds by now. Interested, Veronica listened to his side of the story, even though it gave her little new information. She did find it interesting though that she got the feeling that Logan talked so loud that she could hear every word with purpose. It almost looked as if he wanted her to hear the whole story. Why? Because he wanted to make extra sure that no one suspected him? Or did he just do it in order to gloat? She always had liked Mrs. Navarro and after the scene at the beach, she guessed that Logan assumed that she and Weevil were some kind of friends now. Yeah, the day that happened would be the day that Bush let the troops came home, denounced his presidency, became a hippy and joined a cult. Yeah. The chances were looking great so far. Looked like it was gunna happen any day now.

The other 09ers went back to their places after Logan had finished his story, leaving only Logan and Caitlin back who still talked about the incident.

"No seriously, how difficult is it to find good help these days," Logan told Caitlin with a laugh, but it didn't go by Veronica that he was looking at her while he said it.

"What are you going to do about your housekeeper situation?" Caitlin asked curiously.

"We had to let her go. If you can't trust your domestics, you don't feel safe in your own home," Logan answered with a mocking smile, his eyes still on Veronica.

Oh yeah, Logan wanted to achieve something all right, that much was clear now, but what? That she launched herself into an argument about how unfair the difference between the two classes in Neptune was? To hear her take Weevil's and Mrs. Navarro's side, defend them?

"I won't miss her. She was totally rude to me every time I was over there," Caitlin said, making a face.

'Way to go Mrs. Navarro,' Veronica thought with a smile and finally did Logan the favor to look over to them. He wanted to play games? Fine with her.

"Did you guys know that 90 of all identity theft is committed by relatives of the victim?" she asked, staring right into Logan's eyes, who run his hands over his face and looked at her, sighing. "That's an interesting fact," Veronica said casually and gave a little smile. "At least I think so."

Their eyes still held when Caitlin spoke up, her eyes narrowed now. "But you know what?" she asked and Veronica broke the eye contact with Logan to glance at his 'girlfriend'. "No one cares what you think, Veronica Mars. Not any more. Not since you stabbed all your friends in the back," she told Veronica smugly.

Veronica's eyes zeroed in on Caitlin. "You seem to care a bit what I think."

It didn't really bother Veronica just what Caitlin had said, but Caitlin Ford had no right to talk to her like that. She had no idea what she was talking about anyway. She may think that she did, being Logan's girlfriend but truth was that she wouldn't be that for much longer. Veronica knew how it looked when Logan was hooked up on a girl, in love, and Logan was nothing of those things. He'd end things soon, of that Veronica was sure.

Before Caitlin could say something, Logan interrupted them, by wriggling his eyebrows at Veronica. "Tell the truth, Veronica. Did you just sign up for newspaper so you could be around Duncan?" he asked, doing a complete 180 on the conversation, and wriggled the fingers of his right hand in a suggestive manner at her.

She looked back at him, at the smirk on his face, and felt herself relax a little. "No," she answered, smiling at him. "I'm here so I can be closer to you," she told him in her most Betty-like voice, sweet and dreamy.

Amused, Logan mouthed a smirky 'oooo' at her.

"In fact, they're thinking of putting me in your 4th period government class," Veronica continued, deciding she could as well try to get a little access questioning done.

Logan frowned at her, probably knowing her too well to not notice the change of tone in her voice, but that was okay. She hadn't expected him to answer her anyway. No, she was counting on the dumb blond at his side. And she wasn't disappointed.

"We've got computer lab forth period," Caitlin told her in a snub.

Logan shot her an annoyed glance before he looked back at Veronica, slight frown still in place.

"Oh shoot! My loss," Veronica said with a sigh and turned back to the screen in front of her, smiling to herself.

Now wasn't that interesting? So Logan had had every opportunity to make those online orders that had been charged on the card. It would be very interesting to get a list of which sites Logan had visited during forth period.

And to get those was a piece of cake when you were Veronica Mars.

* * *

Logan didn't like Veronica's smile, not at all. Caitlin must have told her something, something important to Veronica. He had known immediately that Veronica had been fishing for something but he had no chance to warn Caitlin to not give anything away, whatever it was that Veronica wanted to know.

After all, why would she be interested in what they were during in forth period? He had no idea, he just knew that there was something and she had gotten it, thanks to Caitlin. And that thought didn't sit very well with him. You just couldn't trust Veronica. The way he knew her, she was yet again scheming something.

In hindsight, it perhaps would have been better if he hadn't brawled about the theft, even putting on an extra show for Veronica. He didn't know why he had done it anyway. To ruff her, yeah, knowing that she wouldn't like to hear about how his dad had fired Mrs. Navarro. She had always liked the old Mexican lady and Mrs. Navarro had liked her, recognizable in the way she would always look to it that Veronica got a slightly better piece of cookie or cake, a sweeter lemonade, things like that. Actually, Logan was pretty sure that from all the persons who ever had come over to visit him, Mrs. Navarro had liked Veronica best. For sure more than Caitlin. Or even Lilly, for that matter. Then again, Veronica probably had treated her better than the others, who had always only seen a servant in the old lady. Not so Veronica: She had seen the person.

She was like that, one of the treats in her he had liked. Of course that was mostly because he himself had profited from that treat. Even now he knew that she had never been his friend because of his parents being actors or even because of the money that came with his family name. No, she had become his friend solely because she had wanted to be friends with _him_ and that was something he had cherished ever since. Well, up until the moment he learned just how _damn_ much it hurt to have that friendship ripped away from him.

"That stupid Veronica Mars… She's really such a bitch!"

Logan blinked and looked over to Caitlin, sitting vis-à-vis from him at their lunch table, telling the others about their short chat with Veronica.

"Nothing new there," Dick said, reaching for another cup of sweet and sour.

"You should have seen her, she so totally came on to Logan, with me sitting right beside him!" Caitlin hissed, shaking her head.

Logan couldn't help but grin. Veronica? Coming on to him? Yeah right. That thought was as absurd as him coming on to Veronica. But Caitlin could think whatever she wanted. He knew after all that Veronicas comment about joining the class to be closer to him was nothing than a joke. Actually, more like their light banter they had going on back when they still had been friends and he had started it with his comment about Duncan. Even he had to admit that it had been more playful than hurting, for which he usually aimed. But right then he had been more interested in stopping the girls before it got out of hand than anything else.

Though he had no idea why.

He had seen that Caitlin's words had enraged Veronica on some level and the strange thing was that so it had Logan. While he never had anything against others going after Veronica as well, it had been wrong to hear Caitlin talking about Veronica's backstabbing. He didn't know why. Perhaps because Caitlin really knew nothing about what she had been talking about? She hadn't been there back then, never had been more than an acquaintance to them until Logan has asked her out on a whim. Lilly had never liked her, nor had Veronica for that matter. They both had always said Caitlin was quite a bitch. Now, that wasn't too unusual with Lilly, but it took quite a lot for Veronica to speak like that. Yeah, Veronica had betrayed him and Duncan and everyone else who had been close with them – but not Caitlin. So she really had had no right to say just that to Veronica.

"And the way she tried to even get into our forth period class too! I wouldn't be surprised if she shows up tomorrow there as well!" Caitlin continued her rant.

"I wouldn't worry about that," Logan said quietly.

"Why not? You heard her!" Caitlin asked annoyed.

Logan sighed and looked away. "Yeah, I did. That's why I'm sure that she won't join computer lab."

"I don't see…"

Exasperated, Logan looked back at her and nodded. "Exactly. You don't see. You don't know her the way I do, okay? Just trust me. She was after something else, I'm not sure what, but I do know that she certainly wasn't trying to find out my schedule in order to start stalking _me_ now."

Caitlin glared at him and, without another word, got up and left in a huff.

"Boy, that girl is angry," Dick smirked. "You're in trouble, dude."

Logan looked after her and shrugged. "She'll calm down," he said unfazed.

And if not… her loss.

* * *

Veronica couldn't say that her day had been much better than the day before so far. Part of it was much better, like finding out that Logan actually had an opportunity as well to do the credit card orders. And other parts seriously sucked – like having to go to Gold Coast now, meeting Duncan to work on that stupid feature about Bodie Chang.

Well, if she wanted to be on time, she better hurried.

When she spotted her car though, she slowed down. There was something wrong with it. What? With a suspicion on the rise she narrowed her eyes and walked around her car. Sure enough. A flat. Those bastards had let out the air again! Damn it! At least she hoped they had just let the air out and hadn't sliced up the tire. After having to have the headlights repaired she couldn't afford new tires right now! Quickly, she bowed down to take a closer look. The valve was loose so they probably didn't slice up the tire. She guessed she was supposed to be thankful now, she thought sarcastically.

Something hit her trunk and a moment later, a pair of legs came to a stop in front of her. She looked up. Somehow, she wasn't surprised at all that it was Logan, an apple in hand and looking first at the flat tire and then at her.

"Bummer," he commented, not sounding sorry at all, nor looking sorry, and then he already turned and walked over to his X-Terra and a bunch of guys waiting there for him.

Veronica stared after him for a moment with narrowed eyes before went over to her trunk to get the iron tire out, throwing in her jacket and sunglasses. She wasn't sure if she had Logan to thank for the flat tire, she sure could give it to him. Though usually, he was more imaginative than a flat tire. The flat was annoying and it would make her beyond late for the surfer competition down at Gold Coast but it was pretty common and uninspired. Be it as it was, he sure had no problem to gloat about it. She glanced over to him, leaning against his car and watching her with a grin. '_Or have fun see her struggling with the nuts,_' she thought, growling as she tried to loose the first nut.

Not that she expected him to help her. She knew perfectly well that no one was going to help her.

"Flat?"

"Just as God made me," Veronica snapped, not really caring to check who the boy was who was next in line to gloat at her.

But instead of laughing, the boy crouched down beside her. "Are you always this persnickety?" he asked.

Why couldn't that guy just leave her alone? "Sometimes I'm even persnichity-er," she gave back, tearing at the iron tire. "I'm supposed to be taking surf competition photos in Gold Coast in thirty minutes and… this is my second mysterious flat since school started," she ranted before she could stop herself.

To her utter surprise, instead of making stupid jokes or laugh at her, the boy reached out to take the iron tire out of her hands. "Well, here, I mean, let me help you," he said and offered a smile at her.

Buffed at that rare show of kindness, she finally took a closer look at the boy. Who… oh, the guy who had spoken up to her in the registration office yesterday. He was new. Well, that explained a lot. Still, she offered him a thankful smile. She could as well enjoy it as long as it lasted until the rumors would reach the boy and he'd never give her the time of day again.

"I'm Troy, by the way," he introduced himself as he handled the tool, looking into her eyes.

"I'm Veronica," she replied with another smile.

The puzzled look he sent her surprised her. "Really?" he asked hesitantly and then gave a half laugh. "Veronica. Okay, yeah, that – that does make a lot more sense," he said, more to himself than to her, she suspected.

Still, she was intrigued now. "Makes more sense how?" she asked curiously.

Troy shook his head, a little embarrassed, she thought. "Ah, nothing… I just, uh…" He looked away. "You should never listen to those guys."

Veronica followed the trail of his eyes, finding, surprise, surprise, Logan and the guys, who were still looking over to them with interest, watching.

"I mean really, who names a daughter Trampy McBitch?" Troy asked with a smile.

Trampy McBitch? Nice one, Veronica thought sarcastically, her eyes zeroing in on the light blond head of Dick Casablancas. She was pretty sure that Dick was behind this one.

With a laugh, she looked back at Troy. "A very good advise if you ask me," she agreed.

"I'll be sure to remember that in future," Troy promised, laughing. "So Veronica, right? Got a last name as well? I mean, I doubt it's anything close to McBitch."

"Nope, not at all. It's Mars. Veronica Mars," she answered. "And you?"

"Vandegraff," he said, fletching his muscles as he tried to loosen an especially hard nut.

Hmm… He looked good. Actually, he looked really good with his light brown hair and those mischievous brown eyes, Veronica thought, looking him over. Plus, he seemed to be nice. And funny. She might just like that guy. Then something suddenly stirred her memory.

"Wait, Vandegraff? Like the architect Vandegraff, the one who built the County Museum?" she asked in sudden recognition.

Troy glanced at her and nodded. "Yeah. You in architecture?"

"No…" Veronica said slowly. "Duncan just mentioned you sometimes."

"Duncan?" Troy asked, raising an eyebrow. "Strange, I thought… Oh wait… Veronica? As in Lilly's best friend Veronica?" he asked, looking at her with surprise.

Veronica just nodded. It was so long since anyone had referred to her in that way that she actually felt a slight twitch in her heart. Plus, she couldn't help but wonder if she said something to Troy as 'Veronica as in Duncan's ex-girlfriend' as well.

"Wow… world really is small after all, huh?" Troy asked, smiling again and loosened the last of the nuts.

"Sometimes," Veronica answered with a chuckle.

"So… you got the spare in the trunk?" Troy wanted to know. Upon Veronica's nod, he sent her a smile and got up, turning to the trunk. Veronica did so as well.

"Hey Veronica, you need a ride?"

Startled, Veronica and Troy both looked up to see Duncan standing in front of them. Strangely feeling as if she had been caught doing something nasty, Veronica quickly pushed her hands into the pockets in the back. Hell, she shouldn't feel guilty for talking with Troy! She and Duncan were long over, she could talk with anyone she wanted, flirt all she wanted!

"If we don't go now, we'll miss it," Duncan added, looking at her.

Shit, what was she supposed to do now? She didn't want to drive with Duncan, no way. It would just be unsupportable, even for that short ride. And she couldn't really leave Troy tending to her car here, couldn't she? But if she didn't go now, she'd get into trouble. Not to mention that Duncan would know just how much even the thought to ride with him bothered her.

"Umm…" She looked from Duncan to Troy who had gotten up as well and was now hauling out the spare tire.

"Go ahead," Troy told her. "I'll finish this up and throw the tools in the trunk."

Duncan smiled at his friend and gave him a slap onto his back. "Chivalry not dead. Good to know." He turned away from them, but looked back at Veronica. "I'm right over there," he told her, pointing over to his car. As if she couldn't see that for herself.

Veronica hesitated for a moment longer before she smiled apologetically at Troy and went over to the trunk to get her stuff. One last glance back at Troy and she went over to Duncan's car, resigned.

No way to back out of this anymore now.

* * *

Silently, Logan watched Veronica getting into Duncan's car. Initially, when he had seen Veronica's flat, he had been pleased by it. Anything to annoy her, especially after that stunt she had pulled on him not so long ago. He had a pretty good guess who had let the air out of her tire and sure enough, one glance at Dick's smug grin and he had known that he had been right with his suspicion, and he complimented his friend for his act by making an okay sign to him. When he had seen Duncan coming and going over to Veronica, as soon as he had noticed the flat, Logan had remembered though that they were supposed to drive to Gold Coast for the surf competition. And suddenly, he didn't find the prank so funny anymore. He knew Duncan well enough to know that he'd offer her a ride so he wasn't surprised when they saw her getting into his car.

"Why would he take her with him?" Caitlin asked, staring after the car as it pulled out of the parking lot.

"Yeah, can't see why he always has to be so damn nice to her," Dick muttered as well.

"And can you believe Troy?" Caitlin asked, her eyes narrowed on Troy now who was in the process of getting Veronica's car up so he could change the tire. "Really, someone should warn him about her."

Logan glanced at her, thoughtful. He had noticed that Caitlin was awfully nice to Troy. And he could swear she was jealous of Veronica for having caught Troy's interest. Definitely not something he wanted to see in his girlfriend, Logan thought darkly.

"Already tried it," Dick said and shrugged, looking over to Troy as well. "Doesn't look though as he wants to listen."

"Hey Caitlin!"

They looked up to see Sandra coming over to them, admiring Caitlin's new roller. "Wow! That the roller? It's awesome!"

Caitlin's face lit up. "Yeah, isn't it?"

Logan turned away from the girls and looked back to Troy. Time for a little chat again, Logan thought and pushed away from his car to go over to him, barely noticing Dick following him.

"Wow T, what a nice little gentlemen you are," Logan said as he came to a stop in front of him.

Troy looked up and gave him a lopsided grin. "You should try it once. Totally sweeps the ladies off their feet," he replied good-naturedly.

"Only problem's we're not talking about a lady, here, dude," Dick said, leaning again the Le Baron.

"I beg to differ," Troy said with a smile and looked at Dick, his smile getting an edge. "Trampy McBitch, huh?"

Dick laughed. "Dude, you really believed that one?"

Troy shook his head. "Man, I must look really stupid huh?" He shrugged and concentrated back on lifting the car. "I was wise enough to first ask Veronica for her name," he told them though.

"You still should forget about her. Don't be fooled by her looks. She's not worth the trouble," Dick said, waving at the flat and the spare tire. "You better save your chivalry for some girl who really deserves all the effort."

"You think so too?" Troy asked Logan, looking at him.

Logan raised an eyebrow. "Me? I don't care what you do. But you might want to listen to us when we tell you that you can't trust Veronica."

Troy nodded and pulled the flat tire out. "Hmm… You know, I got the impression that Duncan doesn't know her."

Logan frowned, not sure where Troy wanted to go with his change of topic.

"Then though I remembered having heard Veronica's name before. Now guess where?" Troy said, his tone awfully casual. When Logan didn't answer, Troy nodded. "That's right. She's Duncan's girlfriend, isn't she? He wouldn't stop talking about her last summer, always whining after her."

For a moment, Logan looked away. Yeah, that sounded like his best friend, at least that of a year ago. When he looked back to Troy, his eyes were hard. "_Ex_-girlfriend," he clarified.

Troy grinned big and stood up to face Logan. "And am I glad to hear that!" he said cheerfully. "I would have been seriously devastated to hear that she's already taken. After all, it's not everyday a witty, sexy girls walks your way." He stopped for a few seconds, staring into Logan's eyes, briefly glancing at Dick as well before he looked back to Logan. "I'm only here at school for two days now and I heard quite a lot about Veronica. But you know what? I think I'll find out on my own what is true and what not," he said seriously, his face loosing the grin, his eyes narrowing in warning. "And I wouldn't be surprised at all if it turns out that she's a lot more like the girl Duncan and Lilly had described to me than like that Trampy McBitch. Now, if you don't mind, I have a tire to change, unless you want to help me of course."

"Just don't say we didn't warn you," Dick laughed, totally unaffected by Troy's words, and headed back to Logan's car.

Logan looked after him before he slowly turned his head to meet Troy's eyes again. The guy had stomach, he had to give that to him. Didn't mean though that he had to take his words just like that. "It's true that there's a lot talk about Veronica. And yeah, not everything about it is true," he said quietly. "But not everything is wrong either. We've been friends once as well, you know. So I speak out of experience when I tell you you should rather stay away from her – for your own best."

"Really?" Troy asked, raising an eyebrow. "Wow, didn't know you cared that much about me!" He cocked his head, giving Logan a curious look. "Now let me ask you something: Are you so insisting on scaring me away from Veronica on behalf of Duncan who might not be completely over his ex – or have you your own interest in making sure that other guys stay far away from her?"

At first, Logan just stared at him, flabbergasted. Did Troy really just imply… oh yeah, he did. Amused, Logan gave a half laugh and shook his head. "Boy, you really have no clue… but you know what? Have fun with her. She's all yours."

He didn't wait for another reply of Troy and simply went back to his car, shaking his head. As if he'd ever care with whom Veronica was hooking up!

* * *

As Veronica finally was laying in her bed that night, she was unable to find sleep. So much had happened that day.

For starters, there was Troy. She was pretty certain that that guy was flirting with her. It had been a while since that had last happened and she definitely was enjoying it. She had almost forgotten just what a rush it gave to find out that you were appreciated. But once again, it was complicated. For one, he was Duncan's friend. Okay, from what little Duncan and Lilly had told her, not a very good or even old friend, but a friend nonetheless. Then there was the problem that he was a 09er. Well, not exactly a typical one, but that was where he lived and the Vandegraffs were rich, no doubt. Which meant that he'd automatically socialize with the other 09ers and that _really_ was a problem.

Then there was Logan. Even if the evidence had started to point towards him more and more, she had been surprised to find out that it really had been Logan who had stolen Lynn Echolls' credit card. It just didn't make sense. But then, who else would book the honeymoon suite at the Neptune Grand to be with Caitlin? And it had been Caitlin's signature on the receipt, no doubt about that.

Next came Duncan. To say that the ride to Gold Coast had been uncomfortable would be the understatement of the year. Neither of them had known what to say to each other and so had suffered through a very uncomfortable, heavy silence that was ringing in their ears. Both of them had been relieved when they had finally pulled into the beach's parking lot. Thank God. Concentrating on the task at hand had helped a lot to lessen up the tension she had been building up during the ride. Actually, once they had been finished, hours later, she had grown halfway accustomed to Duncan's presence again, so much that she had found herself actually laughing together with him from time to time. And when they had announced Bodie to be the winner of the championship they had even cheered up together, their distance momentarily forgotten. The ride back had been in silence again, but this time, it had been a much more comfortable silence.

Up until the moment when the police had driven up behind them and flashed their lights for them to pull aside for an open bunch of tickets and they had been forced to call their dads. Boy, it had been weird to suddenly have the four of them in the same vicinity. One could have cut the tension between her dad and Jake Kane with a saw, so thick it had been. And bringing up too many hurtful memories.

But what kept her from falling asleep the most was not that. No, it was those tickets that haunted her. Especially one. The deputy had mentioned an open ticket from October third.

That was the day Lilly had died.

She couldn't get that out of her head. Okay, Lilly had never paid much attention to such slight things like illegal parking or slight speeding. But her and Lilly had spent most of that day together, up until Lilly had left after the car wash and Lilly hadn't received a ticket until then. So she must have gotten that ticket sometime between then and her way home. The problem was just, as far as Veronica knew, there was no speed trap on the way between the garage and the Kane mansion.

Of course it could have been a mobile speed trap. But perhaps, she had gone somewhere else.

Veronica's father had always believed that something didn't add up with the Lilly Kane murder. That's why he had gone after Jake Kane so hard. Veronica didn't really know more, her father had always closed up when she had tried to question him about his reasons to believe that Jake Kane was capable of murdering his own daughter. Like only a couple of hours before again.

They had run her father out of the office for it, taken away from him his job and Veronica knew that her father had loved his job as Neptune's Sheriff. Her mom had abandoned them, because oh her dad's insistence that the murderer was Jake Kane. Then Lamb had arrested Abel Koontz for Lilly's murder, having found a ton of evidence proving his guilt. Everyone had found themselves strengthened in their belief that Keith Mars had been wrong with his ridiculous accusations towards Jake. Throughout all, Veronica had stood with her father.

She had lost her home, her mom, her innocence, her friends because of her dad's decision - but she had stood with her father, no matter what.

But secretly, she too hadn't been able to believe that Jake Kane had been capable of murdering his own daughter. She had seen them together countless times, and yeah, there had been tension sometimes, but wasn't that normal? Lilly had been a rebellious girl, always thinking that her parents were squishing her under their many expectations. It had let to fights, to hurt feelings and to harsh words. But murder? No, Veronica hadn't been able to believe that. On the other hand though she also trusted her dad implicitly. She didn't know all the facts - all of the evidence - that made her dad persist after Jake so hard, but knowing him, she knew he must have had his reasons. She knew that he had known the consequences before he revealed his theory to the world.

Only now she was starting to really think about all those reasons. Only because of that ticket. Because, if Lilly hadn't gone home directly, then where had she been? Had she been alone? If not, who with had she spent her last hours on this world?

Veronica didn't have the answers to all those questions – but she intended to find out. She had to. But she had to wait until the weekend before she could dare to go to the sheriff's department and get that ticket with the fake ID she still had from Lilly Kane, once ordered to enable them to get into the clubs. Lilly never had been able to use it though.

But who knew, perhaps Veronica could use it now to get to know more about Lilly's last day on Earth. And if she knew more about that day, she finally may be able to understand it better.

* * *

"I know it was you."

Only half listening, Logan briefly looked up from the paper he was reading. Here he was barely entering newspaper class and already Veronica was blaming him for something. Who would have thought? He chuckled. "What was me?" he asked Veronica amused and looked back to the paper in his hands.

"You stole your mom's credit cards but you made a mistake when you went to the Hotel Neptune Grand 'cause you let Caitlin sign for the room service tab," Veronica told him, her eyes boring into him.

At her words, his head shot up to look back at her. What the hell was she talking about? Wait – did she just accuse him of having stolen his mom's credit card? Why on Earth should he do that? He had his own credit cards after all; he really didn't need to steal another one, let alone from his mom.

"Well that's great," he answered sarcastically. "Prove it," he then challenged her and turned to head to a free place.

But on the way over, suddenly, the full impact of her words dawned on him. Had she just said _Caitlin_ had signed a room service tab? At the Neptune Grand? That had been charged on his mom's credit card? The one that had been stolen out of the trash?

Coldness settled in the pitch of his stomach.

He had never been with Caitlin at the Neptune Grand. And he definitely hadn't stolen that damn credit card.

Blankly, he stared down at his desk, deeply in thought, not hearing a word of what Ms Dent told the class.

Could it be that Caitlin had taken that card? But no, that didn't make much sense either. She too had her own credit cards and more money than she ever could spend. Besides, Caitlin Ford getting something out of the trash? No fucking way.

The question remained though how it came that _his_ girlfriend had signed a room service tab at the Neptune Grand, on his mother's expenses not to forget, with him not even anywhere near that room.

Slowly, he raised his eyes and stared over to Caitlin, talking and laughing with another guy. Was she leaning perhaps a bit close to that guy? Wasn't that smile a bit too flirty? Was…

Logan shook his head and forced himself to look away. What the hell was he doing? This was _Veronica_ who had told him about Caitlin being in that room.

Exactly.

It was Veronica. She had no reason to lie to him. Okay, yeah, it could be another prank, her playing with his jealousy, yanking him at that leash – but that wasn't like her. She may plant a bong in his locker but purposely lying to him about his girlfriend's infidelity? No way. Not to mention that she believed that _he_ had been with Caitlin in that room. After all, she had accused _him_ of stealing his own mother's credit card.

He shook his head. How could she think that? The mere thought was ridiculous and he would have thought Veronica really knew him better than that. Some Nancy Drew she was…

Then again, hadn't she said that his fault had been that he had let Caitlin sign that tab? That had proved that Caitlin had been there. And who else but her boyfriend should be there with her, right? Okay, so perhaps he could see why Veronica was suspecting him.

Still… somehow it really bothered him that she believed that he would steal from his own mother. Hell, it almost bothered him more than to learn of Caitlin's treachery.

Once again, his eyes went over to Caitlin. Oh, he was angry. For her betrayal, for making him look like a fool, for stealing from his mother – or at least profit from the theft, because he really couldn't see her stealing the credit card. But it wasn't the blind rage he had felt when another guy had even looked at Lilly. Actually, he wasn't even really jealous. Perhaps because he had known deep down that he and Caitlin wouldn't last. He had tried to come close to the passion he had felt with Lilly once, but it just didn't want to happen. It would have been over between them soon anyway – now it would just be a little sooner.

Still… he wouldn't let her get off the hook so easily. She would pay for cheating on him, he would make sure of that. And whoever had been in that hotel room with her would pay dearly as well.

He just had to find out who it was.

His eyes trailed over to Veronica, working on a computer now and for a moment, he let them rest on her. Maybe he could ask her. Make clear to her that he hadn't been with Caitlin in the hotel and then she could find out who really had been there, spending his _mom's _money on _his_ girl.

No. First of all, Veronica wouldn't give him the time of a day and that was just fine with him. He wouldn't give it to her either. And then… once he knew the name of the bastard, he planned on a little punishment and he knew Veronica well enough to be fairly certain that that wouldn't sit right with her.

So he was on his own, nothing that worried Logan too much.

After all, how difficult could it be to find out with whom Caitlin was cheating on him?

* * *

By the time Logan entered the lunch area, he had decided on a game plan so to speak. For starters, he would keep an eye on his 'girlfriend'; see if he could see which guy she was seeing on the side. Sooner or later she had to meet him, didn't she?

Of course he was aware of the fact that he hardly could follow her around all the time. She may cheat on him but he was pretty sure that not even Caitlin was so stupid to meet the other guy right in front of his eyes. So, right when lunch break had started, he had gone to talk with a few of his friends and asked them to keep their eyes open, discretely. He just hoped that none of those guys was the one trying to steal his girl, but he doubted it. He had been very careful who to ask for help.

Before Logan went over to Duncan and the rest of the bunch he usually hang out around during lunch, he scanned the schoolyard for Caitlin until he spotted her talking with Sandra. Well, what had he expected? To find her in a lip-lock with her lover? He was just about to go on his way when his eyes caught something else.

Troy, sitting at Veronica's table, talking intently to her. Logan narrowed his eyes. It looked as if he was asking Veronica out. Obviously, Troy had meant every word he had said yesterday. He had every intention to go after Veronica.

With a frown, Logan looked over to Duncan in order to gauge his reaction. His friend must have seen Troy and Veronica as well after all. And when Veronica was concerned you just never knew with Duncan… But he looked totally relaxed, as it didn't bother him at all to see a friend of his hitting on his ex-girlfriend.

Shaking his head, he finally moved and started to walk over to his friends. Troy left Veronica's table just as Logan went up the few steps and Veronica's eyes met his, staring at him, obviously pondering something that had to do with him. Probably, she was thinking about how she could nail his butt for the credit card theft, he thought sarcastically and pointed the bull's horn sign at her before he turned his back on her.

He joined Duncan, exchanging their version of a handshake with him and sat down on the low wall next to the bench and table. He looked over to Caitlin and saw that Sandra had left and she was now talking to Troy. Boy, that guy moved fast. Though, if Logan wanted to be honest, it looked like Troy was just talking whereas Caitlin though… her entire pose, her smile, the look in her eyes, it just screamed 'come and take me'. But then, he didn't really know Troy. Caitlin and he had met before after all, perhaps they had been together ever since then… Okay, this led to nothing. He needed more information.

His eyes never leaving the possible couple, Logan briefly touched Duncan's arm. "Hey, this kid Troy, how long have you known him?" he asked him.

Duncan looked up. "Oh, a few years. His family has the slip next to ours down at the marina. They usually come in August. Stay the month. They move around a lot, you know, wherever his dad has a project," he said casually. "Hey, I'm going to get a burrito. Want something?" he asked him.

All the while, Logan hadn't let Troy and Caitlin out of his eyes and now too, he only glanced briefly at Duncan to shake his head. "Nothing," he murmured.

"Well, then you are in charge of your girlfriend's purse," Duncan told him and handed him the pink purse before he left.

"Thanks," Logan said sarcastically and put the purse on the bench in front of him, his eyes returning to observe his girlfriend and the new kid in town.

This insecurity and guessing around was driving him crazy!

He needed to find out the truth and fast. He never had been a very patient person, so why should he be one now, all of a sudden?

His eyes fell down on her purse and he saw her cell phone sticking out. Hmm… if Caitlin had a lover – wouldn't there be calls from him to her and vice versa? And shouldn't those numbers be still saved on her cell? Unless she had deleted them of course but Logan seriously doubted that she had been that smart.

Quickly, he looked around if anyone was watching him and then he snatched up the pink phone, covering it with his hands. Stealing another glance around, he called up the call records and scrolled down the list. All the time, he kept a wary eye on Caitlin and Troy as well. It wouldn't be very fortunate after all for her to catch him snooping in her cell.

So far, he couldn't find anything suspicious. Calls to him and her parents were registered as well as a couple of her friends. Some numbers he recognized as delivery services a few he didn't recognize, but they had been made well during the day and Heaven knew that Caitlin liked to call God and the world – and shopping in each form that existed so he didn't think that any of those had been the cell of her lover, especially as none appeared twice on the list. Nothing unusual.

Perhaps Veronica really had played tricks on his mind after all. Or perhaps…

Wait a moment…

"Who's she calling at one in the morning?" he murmured, staring at the number 619-555-0136 and the time, 01:06 am that appeared after the number.

It sure as hell wasn't any of Logan's numbers.

Well, nothing easier than to find out whose number it was then, Logan thought darkly and hit the return button. It rang a few times but then it got picked up – definitely not by Troy though, he and Caitlin were still talking, undisturbed by any phone ringing.

"Ah, hey Baby. Calling me during the school day – That's daring," a male voice came through, talking in a soft, teasing way.

Keeping the phone close to his ear, Logan jumped up onto the low wall, his eyes searching the lunch area, trying to spot the speaker. Damn it, why did it seem like the whole world was on the phone right now?

"Baby? Hello? Baby?" the guy asked. "Ah… you want to play the silent game." He laughed dirty. "All right, baby, later we'll play a tickle game if you want."

There was something in the way he talked that jerked at Logan's memory. He had heard this guy talking before, not too long ago, but where? And when exactly? He kept looking around; hoping to find a face that connected to the voice and the words the guy spoke. His eyes swept over the arcade and suddenly, there it was, the jab of recognition and he quickly looked back.

Oh please…

_Chardo Navarro?_

But sure enough, there he was, staring hungrily across the yard at Caitlin, talking into the phone, smiling.

"That's cool baby, I'll just talk. I know you like it. I miss you mama. I can't wait to see you."

There was no doubt; it was Chardo who was talking on the other end. Having found out what he needed, Logan cut off the call and put the cell away. For a moment he looked away and gave a short, humorless laugh. Unbelieving. Chardo. Of all the guys around and Caitlin had chosen that stupid biker? He stared back at Chardo. Why on Earth? That guy could give her nothing of the things Caitlin loved. Prestige, money, luxury…

Unless of course the biker just happened to have an unlimited credit card, Logan thought and narrowed his eyes.

"Yeah," he whispers, giving a slight nod.

So it hadn't been Weevil after all who had stolen his mom's credit card. No. It just had been his cousin. The guy had some nerve, Logan had to admit that, first stealing from his family and then taking out Logan's girl with just that money.

His hands balled to fists.

Oh, he was so going to enjoy bashing that bastard's face in. But he'd need back up. Not for Chardo, he could deal with that asshole well on his own – but he doubted that his biker friends would just let Logan beat their 'brother' up without interfering.

Time to go find Ian, Mike and Bobby. He was sure that they wouldn't mind to take a little revenge on the bikers for the other week. Actually, he was pretty certain that they would love to have an opportunity to take it out on Chardo and whoever was stupid enough to stand between Logan and his revenge.

* * *

Impatiently, Veronica waited for her father to call her back with the information on that last number on the credit card charge list. Calling through the list, her doubts that the culprit behind all this had been Logan had come back full force. None of the services behind the numbers seemed like those whom he'd use.

But still… it had been Caitlin's signature on that tab bill at the Neptune Grant. Who else than Logan would have been there with her, they had been together already by that time after all?

Unless…

Veronica frowned and bit her lip. Unless, Caitlin was two timing Logan.

Now _that _made a lot more sense. So much sense that she really should have thought earlier of that possibility. Why hadn't she? Right. Because she had let her feelings get in the way. With the annoying, impossible way Logan had acted towards her for the last two days she had just wanted him to be guilty, so she could bust his ass. If she had thought clearly, she should have seen how illogical it had been. Logan was many things, stupid wasn't one of them. And stealing his mother's card and staying over at the Neptune Grant, when he could have gone anywhere with her, many of those places a lot more luxurious than the Grant, and even letting Caitlin sign the tab – that would have been incredible stupid.

Okay, so if it hadn't been Logan, who else had taken the card? Who else had access to the Echoll's trash and with whom Caitlin Ford would then go out with?

Her cell rang and she quickly took the call. "Dad? You've got me a name?" she asked impatiently.

"Yep, and can't say it hadn't been a slight surprise," her dad answered.

"Who is it?" Veronica wanted to know.

"Chardo Navarro," her dad finally gave her the information.

Chardo?

Shit. How stupid could she be? She hadn't even suspected him! And all the time, he would have been the most logical choice beside Weevil and Logan. But hell… _Chardo and Caitlin_?

Oh God… Logan.

Shit, shit, shit!

After she had accused him in newspaper class this morning he too must have put two and two together. And the way she knew him, he was trying to find out who was doing his girlfriend right this minute. If he hadn't already found out. Like already mentioned, he wasn't stupid. Whereas both, Chardo and Caitlin were very dumb. It wouldn't be hard to find out with whom Caitlin was cheating Logan with.

"Veronica?" her dad called out.

""What? Oh, sorry Dad, gotta go. Thanks!" Veronica quickly said and cut off the call as she got up and gathered her things together.

She needed to find Chardo before Logan did or there would be bloodshed.

* * *

Incredulous, she stared at the door of the girl's bathroom closing behind Chardo. She couldn't believe how unbelievingly _stupid_ that boy was.

As if Caitlin Ford would ever run away with him!

But no, that guy really believed that Caitlin loved him. That she'd give up all her money, her status, to leave with him and live on the run from now on. That if Caitlin had to choose between him and Logan, that she'd choose him. Not that she had any choice left anymore. Not now that Logan knew of her screwing around.

And Logan knew. That much had been clear when Veronica had seen him closing in on Chardo, his eyes furious and Ian, Mike and Bobby right behind him. Oh yeah, he had been out for blood.

He still was.

Veronica almost felt pity with Chardo. Almost. If he hadn't stolen from Lynn. If he hadn't used that money to take out Caitlin of all people. If he hadn't watched Lamb arrest his own grandmother and doing _nothing_ against it. If he hadn't let Weevil take the fall for him.

No, as far as she was concerned, he deserved all he'd get.

Still…

With a resigned huff, she hurried out after him, looking for Logan, sure that he had waited outside for Chardo. And there he was, right behind Chardo. Shaking her head, Veronica hurried forward and pushed herself between him and Chardo – for the second time that day. This time though, she turned to face Logan. It probably was wasted breath but perhaps, she was able to talk some sense into _him_.

"Whoa… you in a hurry?" she asked, smiling up at him.

He didn't return the smile, big surprise. "Get out of my way, Veronica," he simply growled, his eyes fixed on Chardo's back.

"Why? So you can get suspended again? Perhaps coupled with a charge on assault as well? Yeah, great idea, way to go, Logan," Veronica said sarcastically. "That will go really well with the one on possession from week before last."

"I don't have time for your shit right now, Ronnie," Logan said and sidestepped her to continue his pursue of Chardo – or tried to.

Giving an exasperated groan, she used his inattention and pushed him through the open classroom door right beside him.

"Get lost," she told his three startled lackeys and shoved the door right into their face, pushing the next chair under the handle. Taking a deep breath, she turned to face Logan again.

"What the fuck…"

"You're furious, I get that," she interrupted him coldly. "And you ask me, you have every right to. But jeez, Logan, you really think it will do any good when you go out there and beat the hell out of Chardo now?"

Logan glared at her. "This isn't any of your business!" he hissed and stalked over to her.

Veronica shrugged. "Now, let's not fight about that. Think Logan. I know it must be hard for you, but try it anyway. Now that we know it's Chardo we can gather the evidence and turn it in. The Sheriff's going to go bust his ass. So do yourself a favor and let the police handle this – and his future cellmates."

Logan shook his head. "Not good enough. Who's going to guarantee me that he really gets busted? Or that he doesn't manage to escape until then? In case you haven't heard, as far as the Sheriff's concerned, the thief is doing his time right now." He looked her into her eyes. "Why should he even listen to you, huh? Because you're such a great PI?" Logan laughed dryly. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't you the one who had accused me of stealing my own mother's credit card just this morning? Yeah, I see why he should release Weevil and go after Chardo just on your word."

Veronica clenched her jaw. "Okay, so perhaps the Sheriff won't believe me. But I know someone who can probably convince him to let the charges against Weevil drop and instead go after Chardo."

Before she could continue, Logan laughed. "Yeah, who? Your Daddy?"

Counting to three, Veronica tried to hold back the biting remark on her tongue. This had been a bad idea. What the hell had she been thinking? "No. Mrs. Navarro," she answered through clenched teeth.

That surprised Logan and he stared at her in amazement for a few seconds. Then he shook his head. "And why should she say anything now? She must have known it's Chardo all along but she kept silent. I doubt she's going to give up her grandson now just because you're going to ask her to."

"No. But I have the feeling she might reconsider that once she heard that Chardo spent most of that money on Caitlin," Veronica said and smiled. "From what I heard she's not exactly the biggest fan of your current girlfriend, right? I mean, Mrs. Navarro is only 'totally rude' to a guest of your family when she really, really doesn't like that person, isn't that so?"

Okay, the moment the words had left her mouth, she had known that she shouldn't have taunted Logan like that. She should have known better. But Logan simply always managed to make her forget common sense - she just couldn't help it.

Logan slowly took a step forward so that he was towering right before her now, looking down at her with hard, cold eyes. "You do whatever you want Veronica, I don't care. But you can be sure that I'll do whatever I want to do – and have to do. And now get out of my way before _I_ remove you," he said very quietly, very tightly, causing the hairs on the back of Veronica's neck to stand up.

For a moment she held his eyes before she stepped aside, silently.

Logan yanked the chair out and ripped the door open. "Let's go," he ordered the lackeys still waiting outside.

But Mike shook his head. "Too late, man. I kept following him, but he went straight to his bike and got on, roared off. He's gone."

Letting out a curse, Logan swiveled around to glare at her. "Great. You happy now? He's probably on his way down to Mexico right now."

Veronica looked at him and contemplated what to do. She too knew that Chardo would run now. But she also knew that he wasn't going to leave without at least trying to convince Caitlin to go with him – as much had gotten clear in her little talk with Chardo in the girl's bathroom. Now, she could keep silent and Chardo would probably manage to get away. Or she could give Logan a hint – and be responsible for whatever he might do to Chardo if he got to him.

Not an easy choice. But then, she wasn't the naïve girl anymore that believed blindly into the police's capability to always get the bad ones, especially not with Lamb being the one in charge. She had learned to believe in the old 'eye for an eye' and also that sometimes, you had to see for yourself to get that eye.

And fact was that she didn't want Chardo to get away. Besides, yeah, Logan was furious. But she trusted that he'd stop before it got out of hand.

Taking a deep breath, Veronica stepped closer to Logan and looked up into his eyes. ""He'll run yeah. But not right away. He'll need to get a few things, money. And he won't leave without at least saying goodbye to the girl he loves." She stopped for a moment to let the words think in. "Actually, he seems to be under the impression that the love of his life will run away with him."

Logan stared at her with a mixture of contempt, mistrust, incredulity – and dawning understanding.

She nodded and stepped back. "If Mrs. Murphy asks, tell her that I suddenly felt sick," she told him as she turned away to head out of the school building.

Logan was taken care off – but she still had every intention to at least try the legal way as well. Besides, she had a friend to get out of juvie.

Time to have a little chat with Mrs. Navarro.

* * *

"So… you and Chardo, huh?" Logan asked; his eyes boring into Caitlin, as she turned, startled. He had waited until school had let out to go have a talk with Caitlin – his last talk with her. So he had waited on the parking lot until she showed up at her roller and, once she had said goodbye to all her friends, he had approached her from behind.

"Logan! Wow, you've given me quite a scare here!" Caitlin said, smiling at him.

Logan said nothing but just stared at her.

Her smile wavered. Then though she enforced it again and stood closer. "Hey there baby. I've hardly seen you today. I missed you," she said sweetly and leaned up to kiss him.

Quickly, Logan stepped back and smiled sarcastically at her. "Oh, you know, I was busy trying to figure out with whom you're cheating on me."

Her eyes widened. "What?"

"Heard you had a great time in the Neptune Grand the other day," Logan continued, his eyes hardening. "On my mom's expenses none the less. I hope the caviar had been good."

She paled, but shook her head. "Logan, I have no idea…"

"Oh please, don't even try to deny it," Logan interrupted her. "I know it all. There's no point in lying anymore. Just tell me one thing: why Chardo?" he asked, truly wanting to know. It was the only thing he simply couldn't see in this whole story.

Caitlin didn't answer immediately, but finally, she shrugged, an uncaring expression coming over her face. "No special reason. He was hot for me. He was something different. And it didn't hurt either that you two are dangerously close to enemies. It has something, doing two enemies."

Logan stared at her for a long moment, probably seeing her true self for the first time. He should never have fallen for her false smile and big boobs. Well, he'd learned his lesson now. Slowly, he nodded. "You know what? Lilly and Ronnie have been right: you're a bitch." He turned away. "Don't bother to ever come near my home or me again, Caitlin," he called back over his shoulder as he headed over to the group of guys, waiting for him in Mike's jeep.

"Oh really?" Caitlin called after him, furious. "From what I heard your precious Lilly had a thing for bikers herself. And we all know just what a slut Veronica Mars is."

Logan ignored her and simply got into the car. "Let's go."

* * *

"You should know. The judge issued a warrant for Chardo after authorizing your release. They're out looking for him," Veronica warned Weevil after Mrs. Navarro vanished inside the house to make her grandson something to eat.

The hug Weevil had given her for greeting after the police car had dropped him off, had startled her. It had been such a sweet, caring gesture like she wouldn't have given the biker. But then, in the last few weeks, he had given her quite some surprises. Perhaps this was why she was warning him about the Sheriff – and Logan. Yeah, she still had to tell him that she had given up his cousin to Logan. She wasn't sure how well he was going to take that one.

"Yeah, well. They won't be the only ones," Weevil said, his eyes hardening.

Okay, perhaps Weevil wasn't going to stick _her _naked to the flagpole. "Logan and the 09ers are after Chardo too," she told him. "You should find him before they do."

Weevil seemed totally unworried by that news. "We'll find him," he said with absolute certainty.

One, Veronica didn't doubt for a second. But what would happen when the bikers found him – and Logan had already gotten to him? She was pretty sure that Weevil had his own things to say to his cousin – but would he let Logan beat Chardo up and do nothing? It was no secret that the PCH gang and the 09ers didn't get along too well – and things between Logan and Weevil had gotten worse after their little 'talk' down at Dog Beach, when Weevil had punished Logan for smashing in her headlights. Perfect circumstances to get a war started between them.

Not if she could help it.

"Okay, thing is this: I think I know where you can find Chardo," Veronica slowly told Weevil.

Weevil's eyes stared at her, waiting.

"And I'll tell you, under one condition," Veronica continued.

"Ah, I guess now comes the quit pro quo, huh?" Weevil said resigned.

Veronica smiled sweetly. "Hey, this great nation of ours was built on quid pro quo," she answered, quoting Troy from earlier that day. "Here's the deal: I also told Logan, so he's probably there, staking out the place right now. That is, if Chardo hasn't shown up yet."

When Weevil said nothing but just stared at her, Veronica continued. "If I tell you and you meet the 09ers, don't start a fight with them. And if they already gotten to him – no revenge, okay?"

Now, Weevil laughed. "Girl, you sure don't drive a small bargain."

Veronica shrugged. "Take it or leave it, your choice."

Weevil shook his head. "Even if I agree… how do you suppose I can hold back my boys when the rich kids start fighting? Huh?" He waited a moment. "Unless you've made a similar agreement with Echolls. I doubt that though."

She didn't bother to answer that one but went straight to the heart of the matter. "Simply, by not letting it get that far."

"You're delusional, chica," Weevil said, shaking his head. "How in hell should I manage that?"

"By talking to Logan straight ahead," Veronica simply answered, dead serious.

"Yeah, right, I'm sure he's going to listen to me," Weevil laughed sarcastically.

"He will. Offer him the right deal, and he will," Veronica said with absolute certainty. Then she sighed. "He's not beyond reason, you know. Let him take a good swing at Chardo and I think he'll be satisfied to let you have him then. That bitch isn't worth more, he knows that now."

Weevil stared at her for a long time before he finally nodded slowly. "Fine. Where's Chardo?"

Relieved, Veronica smiled.

* * *

Impatiently, Logan let his fingers play on his leg. For almost two hours now they sat outside Caitlin's home, waiting for Chardo to show up. The guys he had rounded up were getting edgy as well; he knew that. He wouldn't be able to keep them waiting much longer.

Hell, he was halfway ready to give up this stakeout as well.

Yet, he'd wait. His gut told him that Veronica had been right. Sooner or later, Chardo would show up here for Caitlin. He didn't know why he trusted Veronica's judgment. But there had been something in her eyes, when she had given him the hint that made him believe her. She didn't want Chardo to walk unpunished, as much he had gotten out of their little chat.

With a sigh, Logan leaned his head against the headrest and stared up into the sky. Veronica. Damn that girl. He just couldn't get her anymore lately. On one hand she planted bongs in his locker and accused him of stealing his mother's credit card – and on another hand she made sure that all evidence about his supposedly drug possession went up in flames and she gives him advises on how to handle the guy who had stolen from him and his family as if she's worried about Logan. On one hand she openly hates him and thinks the worst of him – on the other she obviously trusts him to do the right thing.

But then, was he any better? Wasn't he ready to rip off her head one minute and the next he'd risk to get beaten up in order to protect her? Didn't he sometimes just hate even the sight of her when other times, he trusted her above anyone else? Or take this thing here: on one hand he trusted her instinct about Chardo coming for Caitlin, sooner or later – and on the other he didn't trust her at all that she hadn't set other plans in action to still rob Logan of the satisfaction to beat on Chardo – hence all the guys he had rounded up for help. He was pretty sure that Veronica had gone to the Sheriff anyway… or let Mrs. Navarro go for her. And the way he knew her, she probably managed to have Weevil out of jail by now. If that was the case, then they were on the lookout for Chardo as well. Logan didn't know if it was for revenge or to protect him from the 09ers, but they'd be looking for sure – and Weevil may just have gotten the same tip from Veronica as he had gotten.

There was no way that Logan risked to face off the PCH gang on his own again. If they wanted a fight, fine. They were prepared. He had rounded up enough guys to even out the number of the bikers.

"Really Logan, how much longer are we supposed to sit around here?" Mike whined, bringing Logan out of his thoughts.

Logan looked over at him, then back to the guy in the back. All he could see was annoyance and impatience on their faces. He sighed. "Just give it a little more time," he told them, looking straight ahead again.

"That's what you said half an hour before as well. I don't see why we're here anyway. Why would Chardo risk coming here, of all the places?" Mike though said. "It would be stupid!"

Logan didn't answer. They wouldn't understand it anyway.

"I mean, it was _Mars _who tipped you off on where he would probably go. Why the hell should we believe her? It's her fault he got away in the first place!" Mike ranted.

"I have my reasons to believe her," Logan answered shortly.

Mike shook his head. "Really, how you can even think about believing her when…"

"I know her, okay?" Logan snapped. "Just trust me on this."

"You know, sometimes I wonder on which side you really are: Hers or ours," Mike glowered.

Thankfully, at that moment, a bike roared in the distance, coming closer. Logan tensed and forgot about his harsh comeback to Mike, his eyes searching the streets. They had placed themselves all around the Ford's house, hidden so Chardo wouldn't spot them and drive off again before they could stop him. A couple of minutes later, the bike appeared, coming down the street they were facing and turning into the street Caitlin lived. He hadn't gotten a good look at the driver, but Logan was pretty sure it was Chardo. He nodded to Mike. Any second now and the action would start.

He could barely await it anymore.

They had agreed with Dick that he's send Logan a buzz when it was safe to hone in on Chardo and not two minutes later, that buzz came.

"Go," Logan told Mike who floored the gas immediately. They shot around the corner, seeing their friends closing in on Chardo who tried to run back to his bike. Without any luck. Mike was pulling to a stop beside the bike long before Chardo came even close to it.

Logan slid out of the jeep and stepped towards Chardo, who eyed him and the rest of the 09ers warily. "Well," Logan said and glanced up to Caitlin's room, seeing her watching the scene unfold from the window with an impassive face. Probably, she would even enjoy the show she'd get. That didn't sit well with Logan, but then, his need for revenge on Chardo was greater than his annoyance that he'd give that bitch something she'd enjoyed. He looked back to Chardo. "If it isn't the bad apple thinking he can steal my girl," he smirked.

The wariness disappeared from Chardo as he met Logan's eyes. "I already stole your girlfriend. You're just too dumb to know it," he told him smugly.

Boy, that guy was really dumb, Logan thought as he reached back to slam his right fist right into Chardo's smirking face with all the momentum he could muster up. With satisfaction he watched Chardo go down. His knuckles would hurt like hell, but God, it had been worth it, it felt so good. Smiling sardonically, Logan moved and pushed his foot on Chardo's chest to keep him down. Before he could continue though, the sound of motorcycles could be heard and sure enough, moments later the PCH gang came around the corner and stopped in front of their little gathering.

"Check it out, man," Ian warned, rather unnecessarily.

Logan looked at the bikers and then looked down at Chardo again, increasing the pressure of his foot on his chest. He wasn't worried about the bikers. This time, they wouldn't ruin his fun.

Chardo though thought otherwise. The fear he had had in his eyes only a moment before, was gone again. "Sweet music, huh?" he asked grinning.

Logan narrowed his eyes and looked up at Caitlin, thoughtful. Wouldn't she just be pleased if there broke out a war between the 09ers and the bikers just right in her front lane? And later she could go around and boast about how she had been the reason for it. He just knew that this would be the story she'd tell – and which probably would stick. Did he really want her getting that much attention? After what she had done to him?

No. If he could help it, she wouldn't get what she wanted. Hell, perhaps this confrontation now was just what that bitch had aimed for all along.

"Hold him," he told Dick and removed his foot from Chardo's chest. Dick and a few others knelt down to keep Chardo in place while Logan turned and headed over to Weevil who was just removing his helmet, not surprised at all to see him.

Veronica had been fast, that he had to give her.

"Well, I guess this is what they call inevitable, huh?" Logan asked and spread out his arms with a laugh. "Hey look, we even got home court advantage."

Weevil gave him a resigned look and got off his bike. He nodded. "Let's talk," Weevil addressed Logan, waving at him.

With narrowed eyes, Logan stared at the biker for a moment, trying to figure out what this was all about. Finally, he gave a slight nod and moved to meet Weevil behind Mike's jeep, away from the others' hearing.

"What?" Logan asked curtly.

"Chardo stole from your mom, did your girlfriend," Weevil said, coming straight down to business. "You have any right to take revenge."

Well, Logan hadn't expected that one – and he didn't trust it. "And?"

"So do I. I've cleaned the highway for two days now. He let the Sheriff arrest our abuela. He betrayed me. So I ask you to let me handle it from now on. I guarantee you – what we can do to him is far worse than the worst beating you can give him," Weevil said, his eyes steal hard. "He'll get what he deserves."

For a moment, Logan just stared at him before he looked back to Chardo. His knuckles were already starting to hurt. If he really thought about it, he had had his revenge already. Caitlin wasn't really worth more. He looked back to Weevil, the impassionate expression on his face. Weevil was right. He had far more reasons to claim revenge on Chardo. And Logan had no doubt that Weevil could inflict more pain on his cousin than he ever could. That was the curse of families, he knew that only too well.

Without another word, he turned and headed around the jeep again. "Let him go," Logan told Dick.

"Logan," Dick protested incredulous.

"I said, let him go," Logan repeated his order and nodded for Mike to get back into the car, which he did with a frown, as well as the other guy that had driven with him. "Come on," Logan told the guys who sent him disappointed and unbelieving glares, grumbling quite loudly.

Logan ignored them and waved Mike to finally start the motor, which he did. Briefly, Logan glanced back to Chardo, seeing that his friends were starting to dissipate as well while Chardo got up and went over to his own bike, looking very smug again.

Logan turned back to look ahead again. Chardo would soon loose that smugness; he had not even the slightest doubt about it.

* * *

"Hey Logan! Is it really true? Did you break up with Caitlin?"

Inwardly, Logan sighed and nodded, moving on. This had been the ninth time someone had asked him that question or a similar one and he had only arrived on Troy's party five minutes ago. He had known that he should have rather stayed away but everyone of his friends was going to be here as it promised to get quite a party and Logan hadn't been keen on staying home – or going out on his own. Besides, he needed to get the word around about Caitlin.

She was wrong if she thought she could get away so easily. Oh no, not after messing with him. So he had figured out that the best punishment for her was to be shunned, ostracized from the group, just like she had had so much fun doing so to Veronica. He just needed to get the word out about this and this party was perfect for that. Still, he wasn't sure if it was worth all the noisy questions he'd have to endure this night.

With relief, he spotted Duncan sitting with Troy on a couch and quickly moved over.

"Hey man," Logan greeted Duncan and looked at Troy. "Nice place. Where are your parents?"

Troy grinned. "Trip to the golf masters. My dad loves golf."

"And of course he gave his consent for this nice little gathering, right?" Duncan said dryly, grinning as well.

"But absolutely! You don't think I'd ever throw a party without my parents knowing about it, do you?" Troy replied back.

With a laugh, Logan sat down beside Duncan. "Way to go, T!" he commented and grabbed himself a beer.

He wasn't quite sure how to deal with Troy Vandegraff. Be nice to him, be hostile, be indifferent. He was a bit a hard case to decide on. On one hand, he seemed to be an okay guy. On the other he was way too much interested in Veronica for Logan's liking. Especially because Troy was a friend of Duncan's. But as long as Duncan didn't seem to have any problems with that, Logan hardly could be offended on his best friend's part. After all, Veronica wasn't his ex-girlfriend.

Just his ex-friend.

"Soooo… from what is being told you had an interesting day yesterday," Troy addressed him.

Logan shrugged. "That's one way of putting it."

"I dunno… facing off those bikers and their knives with just your mere fists is quite something, isn't it?" Troy said, winking at him.

"What?" Logan laughed.

Duncan nodded, grinning as well. "Yeah. And that knife wound you got for fighting for your girl really must hurt like a bitch. You must have lost at least a gallon of blood. Just how many stitches did it take to sew the wound?"

Logan shook his head. "Boy, I knew it would get boasted up, but that's simply ridiculous."

Troy shrugged. "Hell, as long as you get to be the hero, why complain?" he asked, his eyes going over to the door when he heard another new guest arriving.

"Hey Troy, you waiting for someone special?" Duncan asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What?" Troy asked back, looking back at his friend.

"Every time someone new arrives, your eyes are fixed on that door. It just looks like you're waiting on someone," Duncan said.

Troy glanced briefly back to the door and sighed, but shook his head. "Just being a good host and keep an eye on my guests," he muttered and reached for his drink, taking a long sip.

Again, someone new arrived and Troy's head promptly turned to look again. When his face lit up, Logan looked over to the door as well – and frowned. Wasn't that Fennel, the guy who always hung out with Veronica nowadays? What was _he _doing here?

"Yo, Wallace," Troy called the guy over who looked around to spot them. Once he did, he came over, exchanging a handshake with Troy.

"Hey man," Fennel greeted Troy, but only glanced at Duncan and Logan. "Great party from what I can see in the total three minutes since I'm here."

Troy shrugged. "Hope that stays so." He looked past Fennel and his face fell a little. "You came alone?" he asked and the disappointment in his voice was obvious.

Fennel nodded. "Yeah. Tried to convince her to come as well, told her she couldn't let me go to my first party all alone…" He shook his head. "But she simply kept shaking her head."

Troy sighed. "Can't say I'm surprised. Hope you'll have a good time anyway. If you're hungry, stuffs over in the dining room. And some guys have thrown on the grill."

"No problem man. I'm sure I'll have my fun. See ya," Fennel said and moved on.

When Troy turned back to Duncan and Logan, Logan met him with narrowed eyes. "You've invited _Veronica_?" he asked unbelievingly.

Troy arched an eyebrow. "Yeah. Got a problem with that?"

Logan looked away. "We don't want her on our parties," he answered tightly.

"Well, then it's probably good that this is my party, isn't it?" Troy shook his head. "What is it with you and her? When I invited her, all she said was that she won't be welcome here as well. Can't you all just say that you're sorry and forget about your ridiculous animosity?"

Logan glanced at Duncan and his closed off face. And he thought back to yesterday and his encounters with Veronica. He stood up. "No," he said quietly and made his way outside.

Suddenly, he wasn't in the mood to party anymore.

Troy didn't know what he was talking about. What had happened between Veronica and him couldn't be easily swept away with a lame 'I'm sorry'.

Nor with these strange talks they had had lately.

Actually, Logan doubted that there was anything that would let them get back what they once had.

* * *

Sitting in her car, Veronica stared at the ticket in her hand. It hadn't been difficult to get it, just like she had predicted. The clerk hadn't known her and she and Lilly always had looked a little alike, at least when Veronica still had her long hair. Only when Lamb had showed up there had been a tense little moment. Thank God Veronica had already conned the clerk with Lilly's fake ID by then. Otherwise, she wouldn't have had that ticket in her hand right now.

Her hands trembled.

There Lilly was. Even on the bad black and white photo you could see just how vibrant with life Lilly had been.

Her vision blurred and quickly, Veronica wiped away the tears. This was the last picture that had been taken of Lilly when she had still been alive. No wonder she teared up. And seeing Lilly like that…

God, she missed her so much.

Her eyes fell on the time of when Lilly had run a red light and she frowned.

6:02 pm.

Sniffing, Veronica blinked. But that was impossible. According to the coroner, Lilly had died approximately at 4:15 pm. That was what had stood in the autopsy report.

Yet, there it stood black on white with a picture of a very alive Lilly beside it.

6:02 pm.

But… that… that meant that something was wrong with the police files. Could it be that the coroner had been so wrong about the time of death?

No.

Her hands stopped shaking and her eyes dried. Everything slowed down.

Her dad had been right. Something didn't add up in the case. And if Lilly hadn't died at 4:15 but almost two hours later… then Jake Kane didn't have an alibi. Nor had Celeste. Nor Duncan. But what about Abel Koontz? Did he have an alibi for that time? Sure, this photo didn't prove that Abel hadn't killed Lilly. But it did prove that something was seriously amiss with the case.

Veronica looked up and stared ahead.

Her dad may be right. The person who had killed Lilly, taken her away from the people who had loved her, may be still walking around while an innocent man was waiting for his execution.

Veronica's hands fisted.

She needed to know the truth. She needed to know if Abel Koontz had killed Lilly. And if not… then she wouldn't rest until her real killer was under arrest and Lilly's murder would be avenged.

* * *

TBC!

_(Author's Note: The second chapter – and I have no idea how I filled almost 40 pages here… then again, this is an episode with much Veronica and Logan, not to mention an important one for the whole story, so perhaps this is justified. Just don't expect it for every chapter! And I mean it! Really… Anyway, the next chapter will probably take a while. I'm off to holidays for two weeks in a week and in that week I'll work on finishing the chapters on a few of my other stories. I have no idea how many I'll manage but I'm pretty sure I won't be able to work on this story. But fear not, once I'm back, I'm coming out with new chapters again. On a last note: Thanks for all the wonderful reviews. I'm very happy to hear that you already like this story so much! And please… don't hesitate to let me know what you think about the new chapter!)_


	3. Of crazy stunts and closure

**Chapter 3: Of Crazy Stunts And Closure**

**(Meet John Smith)**

Disgusted, Logan watched Troy walking away from Veronica with a very sexy smile and an even dirtier look in his eyes. And Veronica had nothing better to do than stare after the guy, smiling, lost in her thoughts.

This ridiculous act was going on for two weeks now and Logan wished desperately for the curtain to finally fall down. No such luck though. Every single day he had to watch Troy trying to get Veronica to go out with him and every single day, Veronica refused. Oh, she flirted back, but she never said yes and Logan almost wished she finally would agree, just to get this fucking circus over with.

Only problem was that he was pretty sure it would get even worse once Veronica would relent and go out with the guy. The way this was going so far, he thought it entirely possible that they'd end up as a couple.

And he was still convinced that that was ultimately just wrong, Logan thought darkly with a side wards glance at his best friend and the unfazed mask on his face.

Duncan still acted as if this thing between Troy and Veronica wasn't bothering him – but Logan had noticed that his stares at them and Veronica in particular had considerable increased. Also, Duncan may not openly avoid Troy – but he sure as hell didn't search for his friend's company either lately.

With a suppressed sigh, Logan looked back to the source of all the trouble – just in time to see a guy bumping into her in his hurry, causing her books and papers to sail to the ground.

"Thanks, man," she scowled after him and bend down to pick up her things while Logan secretly cheered him on. That was until he saw Duncan beside him quickly moving forward. 'Of course. Knight Kane to the rescue,' he thought sarcastically and followed him, coming to a stop beside them just as Duncan bowed down to help her gathering up her things.

Deciding that it was hopeless, he shook his head and moved past them. It didn't take long and Duncan caught up with him, his face stoic as if he hadn't just another awkward confrontation with his ex. The curiosity getting the better of him, Logan turned to look back at Veronica and was not at all surprised to see her stare after Duncan. For a moment, her face was as easy to read as it had been with the old Veronica and he could see the confusion and discomfort at her little encounter with Duncan. He turned back around.

Back when Duncan had broken up with Veronica out of the blue, Logan had been as surprised as everyone else, including Veronica herself. One day, Duncan couldn't stop talking about his perfect girlfriend, then he was missing a day of school and the next he came back, he was closed off and walked by Veronica without even glancing at her. Logan would probably never forget the hurt and confusion on Veronica's face when Duncan had given her that cold shoulder.

_(Flashback)_

"_Dude, what had all that been about?" Logan asked as soon as they were alone._

"_What?" Duncan answered, raising an eyebrow._

_Incredulous, Logan gaped at him. Then he pointed back to where they had left Duncan's girlfriend standing, crushed. "Veronica! Your girlfriend, remember?" Logan asked sarcastically. "Duncan, you totally ignored her back there!" _

_Duncan's face closed off. "She's not."_

"_What?" Logan asked confused._

"_My girlfriend. She's not my girlfriend," Duncan clarified._

_For a moment, Logan can only stare at him, flabbergasted. "What?" he asked again, he was rather dumbfounded._

_Duncan said nothing._

_Logan's eyes widened as he realized that his best friend was actually serious. "You broke up with her?" he gasped and shook his head. "Why on Earth? You're crazy for her!" _

_Duncan shook his head. "Not anymore. It's over."_

_Again, Logan shook his head, his eyes never leaving his friend's. "Duncan, what happened? Did you two get into a fight?"_

_Duncan looked away and remained silent._

_Logan frowned. "Did she do something? Like, I dunno, kiss someone else?" He couldn't really imagine Veronica cheating, on anybody, let alone on Duncan, but obviously, something _must_ have happened for Duncan acting like this._

_But Duncan still offered no response._

_Getting frustrated, Logan stepped closer to Duncan, and touched his arm. "What else then? You can't tell me that you fell for another girl! Only two days ago you only had eyes for Veronica!"_

_Finally, Duncan looked back at him. "It doesn't matter. She's the past. We're over. There's nothing more to say to that."_

_No? Well, Logan thought otherwise. But he let the matter drop for the moment, knowing that Duncan, in this mood, wouldn't change his mind anytime soon. So instead, Logan laughed unbelievingly. "Come on Duncan, we both now that even if you think that now, you two will be back together in no time. You two are perfect for each other. You love that girl and she sure loves you. Hell, it's already obvious now who's going to be prom king and queen in two years!" he told him._

_There was a shadow on Duncan's face Logan didn't recognize, but as fast as it had appeared, it was gone again. Briskly, Duncan shakes his head. "No. You're wrong. We'll never get back together again," he told Logan coldly and left Logan staring after him, wondering what the hell had just happened, not only just then, but what had happened between Duncan and Veronica for dump her so suddenly. Especially when not even two days ago, if they had been standing in the middle of a world war, and a series of natural disasters hitting once every hour, they would still be attached at the lips afterwards._

_(End Flashback)_

Logan hadn't believed him back then. No one had. But time had proved Duncan right. He and Veronica had never rekindled their relationship.

So far.

Because Logan still didn't believe him. He wished now that he could. After everything that had happened, the least he wanted was for Veronica and Duncan to get back together. But he was no fool. He wasn't blind to the fact that Duncan tensed every time when Veronica came near, which thankfully didn't happen often anymore. Nor was he blind to the fact that Duncan, when he thought no one would notice, openly stared at Veronica. He did notice all the small gestures Duncan still sent Veronica, like him helping her pick up her books just now.

After Lilly's death, when Veronica's father had started his hunt of Jake Kane as the murderer of his own daughter, Duncan of course had been angry with the Mars family. But even then, he never had felt the same cold fury about Veronica's betrayal as Logan had, something, Logan still couldn't understand. After all, it must have hurt Duncan far more than it had hurt Logan, mustn't it? But at least there, for a while, Logan actually had started to believe that there was no chance in hell that his best friend would get back together with the little traitor, ever.

But time had passed and someday, Logan had caught Duncan staring at Veronica with an expression he only knew too well and it had been clear for him that Duncan still had feelings for the bitch.

Boy, he had been furious back then when he had found that out. Furious with Duncan for even looking like that at her again and at Veronica for evoking those feelings in his best friend. Even at himself, for not being able to stop it, try as he may.

And God, tried he had. Everything he could think of from badmouthing Veronica in front of Duncan that even he felt slightly sick for all the things he said about her, most of them the complete contrary to what was true, to trying to hook up Duncan with any girl he could think of – anything to make him forget the tiny blond one.

Oh, Duncan had gone out with the girls all right. To Logan's surprise, he had even slept with quite a few of them. But the staring at Veronica didn't stop. If anything, it increased. And since Veronica had joined the Navigator and Troy had started to sniff all around her, things had gotten even worse.

Logan doubted that there was anything he could still do to stop the inevitable. He sighed. At times like these Logan wished that Duncan had eventually told him the reasons why he had broken up with her in the first place.

After that first time, when Duncan had told him the news, Logan had tried for days to get him to confess to him just why he had broken up with Veronica. Without success. Duncan had clammed up the second Veronica's name had fallen. Once it got clear that Duncan wasn't going to talk, he had asked Lilly, but as it turned out, Lilly had no clue either and was as flabbergasted as he had been about the break-up of Neptune High's most perfect couple.

But what really had shocked Logan was to find out that the only person he thought had at least a clue of what had happened between them, was as clueless as everyone else.

_(Flashback)_

"_Logan?"_

_Surprised at hearing that particular voice, Logan looked up from the video game he was playing. "Veronica, hi," he greeted her, and realizing that she was still standing in the doorframe of his room, he waved her in._

_Very hesitantly, Veronica came into his room. _

_Logan took a closer look at her, and noticed her pale face, the red eyes, and the way she seemed to wish to be anywhere _but_ here. He was definitely surprised to see her here - not that this was her first visit to his house. Nor was it the first time she was here alone. It was just that ever since they both had hooked up with the Kane siblings, they had hardly ever spent time alone together, just the two of them. And since Duncan had broken up with her, he had gotten the impression that she was avoiding him almost as much as she was avoiding Duncan. _

_Plus, there's the fact that their friendship is still a little strained after she told Lilly about his momentary stupidity when he had kissed Yolanda for like three seconds on the last party. But that was over now. Not that Logan was someone who could not hold a grudge against someone – oh, he could do that among the best. But, somehow, he was never able to do so with Veronica and that still hadn't changed. He wasn't really angry with her anymore for telling Lilly. In her place, he would probably have done the same. Besides, God knew that he and Lilly often fought. But sooner or later, they would always end up being back together, and he was pretty certain that this time would be no exception. After all, the recent break-up hadn't been just his fault. Hadn't Lilly acted like such a bitch lately he would never have even dreamed of kissing the new girl._

_Looking at Veronica now, even the last bit of anger towards her left him. Putting the game on pause, he shoved the controller away and sat up. "You want something? An ice tea? Perhaps some cake? Mrs. Navarro made a chocolate cake yesterday, that's your favorite, isn't it?" he asked gently, trying to ease her discomfort._

_But Veronica just wrung her hands and shook her head. "No, no thanks… I… I won't stay long… I… I…" she stopped and shook her head, looking down at her feet. "I shouldn't even be here in the first place, but you're my last hope… I… I just…"_

_With a sinking feeling, Logan realized why she was here. "Ronnie… I can't try to convince Duncan to take you back, you know I can't," he said as gently as possible. "That's something you have to clear between the two of you."_

_Her head shot up and her eyes meet his. "God, Logan, no, that's not why I'm here. I'm not that pathetic yet!" she protested fiercely, but then her face fell. "Though you're right, I shouldn't even think about asking you, but…" She shook her head in frustration. "I just want to understand, Logan!" it breaks out of her._

"_Understand?" Logan asked confused._

_Veronica nodded and her eyes filled with tears. "I know this isn't fair, you're his best friend, but I don't know who else to ask. Duncan refuses to even see me, let alone talk with me. I tried to get it out of Lilly, but she doesn't know either and today now, she comes to me and out of the blue is totally on his side, tells me to move on, that I could have done better than Duncan in the first place anyway." She gulped. "But how can I do that if I have no idea what has happened? Please… I know this is against any code and all, but please, if you know something, _please_, tell me. You don't have to go into details, just tell me if it's something that I have done or said, please, I need to know!"_

_With a frown, Logan tried to process her words. "You want to know from _me_ why Duncan broke up with you?" he finally clarified._

_A tear rolling over her cheek, Veronica nodded and quickly attempted to wipe it away. "I know this must make me look like a real loser, but you're his best friend. You must know at least something. I mean, I don't know how exactly this thing works between boys, but I do know that you two tell each other things you wouldn't tell anyone else, especially those you wouldn't tell me or Lilly. And… I really, really don't want you to do anything that makes you uncomfortable because of that friendship with Duncan but… I just… I simply don't understand and I… I…" her voice trailed off and Logan could see just how much it cost her to not break down completely in front of him._

_Something deep inside him wanted to help her desperately, but truth was that he was stunned that she even has to come to him in the first place. "Duncan hasn't spoken to you about…" he said thoughtfully and waved at her._

_Another tear escaped as she shook her head. "No… not a word. He brings me home and kisses me good night then the next day he's not answering my call when I want to ask him how he's doing." She let out a small sniffle. "So I think he's probably sleeping and try it a few hours later and Celeste coldly tells me that he can't speak to me right now. I try two times more, but with no avail." Her voice dropped to a whisper and she looked down, hiding her face from Logan. "Next thing I know I turn and want to kiss him hello, happy that he's already back and no longer sick, and he just ignores me, refuses to talk to me, doesn't let me close." She turned her back to him, her shoulders shook as she tried to suppress a sob. "If… if Duncan doesn't… doesn't want to be with me anymore, fine… but… but don't I at least… at least deserve to know… _why_?" she whisperd in a broken voice._

_Logan stared at her and secretly, he thought that damn yes, she fucking deserves at least that. What the hell is Duncan thinking, leaving her hanging like that? Logan had no idea; he barely recognized his best friend in the past few days as it was. _

_Sighing, Logan got up and slowly stepped closer to Veronica. He almost reached out to draw her into a hug, but in the end, he thought better of it. It hurt him to see Veronica like this. After all, Duncan may be his best friend, but Veronica was also his friend, as well and Lilly's best friend. But then again, he wasn't sure how Veronica would act if he suddenly hugged her and frankly said, he wasn't feeling comfortable about even thinking about hugging Veronica, Duncan's girlfriend, ex or not, either._

"_Ronnie, I can't help you," he said softly. "I'm not sure I could if I knew something in the first place but truth is that Duncan said nothing else to me than that you two have broken up either."_

_It was a while before Veronica slowly turned and looked up at him, her eyes brimmed with tears. "He… he hasn't… talked to… you… either?" she asked, obviously thrown by this news. _

"_No," Logan simply answered, trying his best to ignore the stab of pain that knowledge gave him._

_Her green eyes filled with tears again and she grew even paler as she slowly backed away from him. "Oh God… I… I'm sorry, Logan… really, I… please… I…" She stuttered and stopped herself. "I need to go," she hastily said and turned to flee the room._

_Worried, Logan caught her arm. "Hey… it's okay, okay?" he helplessly tried to console her. "Come on, I'll drive you home," he offered to her._

_But she shook her head and yanked her arm free, not that he was holding her very firmly. "No!" she gasped and before he could even blink, she was gone._

_Biting his lips, Logan stared at where she had been only a few moments before. He had no idea what-so-ever about what to do. He had no idea if she had driven over here in her mom's car or if she had taken the bus or even walked, but whatever it is, he did not think that she should go home by herself right now. His instinct told him though that she just needed that right now: To be alone._

_It didn't go completely over his head that for her to come to him must have cost her quite a bit of her pride and courage and she had told him that she had came to him only out of feelings of bleak despairity. Only to find out that it had been a futile attempt. The humiliation she must feel right now, for begging him for answers like this, must be enormously. And Logan knew, without any uncertainty, that she was hurting right now - deeply_

_With a sigh, Logan slowly turned away and forced himself to relax and return to his game._

_It took less than a minute flat before his imaginary character's blood splattered over the screen as well as the words "GAME OVER"._

_(End Flashback)_

Only a few days later, Lilly had been killed and everyone forgot about the mystery of Duncan and Veronica's break-up. With having to deal with Lilly being murdered, gone forever from their lives, things like that pretty much faded into the background. Then Keith Mars started his hunt of Jake and when it got clear that Veronica would stand on her father's side, despite everything, Logan just was glad that Duncan and Veronica were already broken up.

Still… to this day, Logan never broke that wordless promise he had made to her back then. He had never told a single soul about Veronica's visit that day. At first, it had been out of his friendship to her. Afterwards, because he wanted no reminder whatsoever that he ever had been friends with that bitch. And then, someday, the memory of that desperate visit of hers faded away.

Until now.

Logan threw himself into the next best seat and leaned his head onto his hand, staring out of the window.

Lately, more and more memories of Veronica the friend surfaced. After her betrayal, he had pushed them all behind, buried them under the hate he was now feeling for her and kept stirring with every little fresh comment she sent his way, with every prank she pulled on him. And it had worked perfectly – for a while. But ever since she had exposed Caitlin's treachery to him, those damn memories were coming back, regardless of how unwelcome they were.

It got even worse. Sometimes, he caught himself seeing Veronica and not feeling the hate that had, on some level, kept him going this past year.

Well, until he grew aware of looking at her and not feel the hate, after that the hate came back full force.

Still…

This change confused him. And it unsettled him. He liked to know where the people in his life were. Were they on the good side or the bad? So far, with Veronica, it had been easy. For four years, she had been clearly on the good side, being a friend he valued and wouldn't have wanted to miss. Then, for the past year, she had been his enemy who he hated and would have been glad to miss.

Now though these clear lines got washed up and she started to mostly be his enemy – but there were these moments, when he wasn't so sure about that anymore. When he was almost sure that in some way, as weird as it was, she was helping him, even looking out for him.

That thing with Weevil for example.

Sure, back when it had happened, he had been slightly surprised that the biker had been so atypically ready to make a deal with Logan about Chardo, but in the heat of the moment Logan had ascribed it to Weevil's own anger at his cousin. God knew he had considerable reason to be angry.

But the more he thought about it, the more unlikely that started to appear to Logan. Even more than that, that none of the PCHer had even tried to take revenge on the 09ers for closing in on him like they had so far.

And that just wasn't normal.

Unless…

Unless Veronica somehow had pulled that off. At first, he had refused to even entertain the idea of Veronica somehow cutting out a deal for Logan and his friends to not have any payback coming their way for what they did to Chardo – or what they had intended to do. But once the idea had come to him, he just couldn't forget it anymore and the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. By now he was pretty much convinced that Veronica somehow had managed to make a deal with Weevil to not take any actions against Logan and his friends.

He had no idea how she had managed that – for that he didn't knew this new Veronica well enough – but he did know that she had found a way. Part of him was angry that she had done so, after all, he didn't need any help to deal with the PCHers, let alone hers – but part of him, and it was that part that annoyed and confused him, was actually happy to know that she had gone out of her way to ensure his safety. To know that despite everything, Logan wasn't completely indifferent to Veronica, did still mean enough to her that she would look out for him – or help him in some way, trust him still on some level.

Because _that_ was his Veronica, the Veronica that had been his friend once for many years, the girl he had known and loved.

No…

This wasn't right. This wasn't happening. He hated Veronica. It should mean nothing to him that there may still exist some of the old friendship they had shared once. After all, hadn't he outdone himself to ensure that all these old shreds were burned forever? Hadn't he gone out of his way to hurt her as much as she had hurt him?

Yeah, he hated her, for her betrayal, for not being there for him when he would have needed her the most, for daring to change and become someone he barely recognized and didn't like at all. He simply hated her.

Didn't he?

* * *

Oh God, there he was!

Veronica stopped in her tracks when she saw Duncan. The chances of her wanting to face him were as good as the chance of her being JFK reincarnated. Not good, and if she could do anything about it, there would be the same chances of her running into him.

She couldn't face him. It wasn't as if they were still on a talking level, but she couldn't even just meet him and look into his face, not now, not after last night!

Veronica still couldn't quite believe it. That dream…

It had been so real, almost like it was more of a recollection of a memory than a dream. Those lips caressing her own lips, caressing her skin, naked skin upon skin, hand everywhere, a building pressure, and then finally, release and an explosion of feeling and colour. The worst thing was that when she had caught a glimpse of the face, it hadn't been the face of the new boy in town who had appeared like a knight in shining armor and helped her and had been chasing her practically from first sight. Oh no. It hadn't even been George Clooney or Antonio Banderas, James Marsters or Jenson Ackles. _No._ No, it had been none other than _Duncan_. Her ex-boyfriend! Her ex-boyfriend of a year, who had never given her a reason for his break-up with her, who hardly had talked to her in that year, let alone friendly, who had idly stood by while his friends called her names and told lies about her.

Who could have been the one who had raped her.

She quickly erased the thought from her mind. No. It was ridiculous. Not Duncan. True, she didn't remember anything of her drug-induced night at Shelley Pomroy's party, but she knew it hadn't been Duncan. It couldn't have been Duncan. Not the guy she had known for years, not the guy she had loved once. She knew Duncan and she knew he couldn't have done _that_. Just like she knew that it hadn't been Logan either. Much because of the same reasons, minus the love of course. But she had seen him with girls, women, like Lilly, like his mother, like herself and she knew that he'd never do anything like that, despite being the psychotic jackass he is.

Speaking of the devil… there he was, right beside her x-rated dream guy. For a moment, Veronica stared at the two guys she once had trusted implicitly.

On some level or another she still trusted them – on others… well let's just say that she'd rather be shipped to a third world country and live on bugs and berries than trust _them_ with other things…

And if Logan caught her staring at _him_ like that… Jeez, if he ever even got so much as an idea of her dream last night, or the images flashing through her mind…

Quickly, she moved on. Damn it. She had nothing to do with Duncan and Logan or any other 09er anymore. And Duncan certainly had no business to show up in her dreams – especially not like that. This had to stop! She was sick of it! It hurt her too much… She and Duncan were over, the past. Veronica didn't love him anymore and she for sure didn't lust after him. She had no idea what last night had been, but it meant nothing, now only thing she had to do was tell herself that 9,999,999 more times at least before she began to believe it.

She felt someone bump into her.

Troy.

Nope. It was fate. An answer. And it was screaming 'Move on!' with the gusto of an atomic bomb. It had also sort of hit her like one as well…

"Oh hey. What's going on?" Troy asked with a smile as soon as he recognized her.

She stared at him for a moment. "Let's go out," Veronica told him suddenly, determined.

For a tiny moment, surprise flickered over Troy's face. No wonder, after all Veronica had resisted temptation and always had said no when he had asked her out for days now. But the boy soon recovered and looked heavenwards, his hands clasped together in mock praying. "Finally the girl comes to her senses," he exclaimed and he looked back to Veronica, smiling.

Something deep inside her that had been frozen up for a long time now, started to warm up and for the moment, Veronica almost forgot everything that had happened in the past year. Suddenly, she felt free and happy and for that alone, she could have kissed Troy on the spot. She managed to hold back though and instead just grinned big at him.

"Come on, we settle things right now before you come to the idea of changing your mind again," Troy said as they moved forward towards her locker.

"Not going to happen," Veronica assured him. "I may take some time convincing, but once I set my mind…"

Troy glanced at her, wriggling his eyebrows. "Is that just wishful thinking or does that sound _very_ promising?" he asked suggestively.

Reaching her locker, she twisted in her combination and opened it before she turned to face Troy. "I think that depends on just what is going on in your head," she answered in a teasing voice.

His eyes taking on a darker shadow, Troy put an arm beside her head and leaned towards her. His proximity made Veronica feel not just a bit warmer and something deep inside her actually squealed with joy that a guy voluntarily got as close to her as Troy was right now. That someone wanted her again.

It had been so long, Duncan being the last guy who ever had showed any real interest in her.

But she wouldn't think about Duncan, not now.

Besides, after the rape she sure had lost any interest in the opposite gender. Until recently; until this boy here showed up and simply didn't care what the whole school and his friends were telling him about her and continued to pursue her. Standing with her, spending time with her, yeah, even with Wallace, asking her out and giving her those looks. Staring up into his eyes, Veronica felt herself falling.

She knew she wasn't ready to go very far yet. But it was time to get into the game again, to remind herself that dating could actually be fun. That kissing someone didn't automatically have to lead to pain and hurt, but to some sort of happiness and joy. And she could see in Troy's eyes that he would be able to give her that. A good time.

Her eyes dropped to his lips. And she wouldn't mind to kiss him either. She couldn't help but imagine what it would be like to kiss those full, soft lips…

"You still with me?"

She shook herself back to reality. "Hmm?" Veronica asked, coming out of her reverie.

Troy smiled but arched an eyebrow. "I think you just spaced out on me. Am I boring you already?" He sighed dramatically. "I don't think my ego will be able to take that."

Veronica laughed. She just had to. "Your ego's safe, don't worry. Not bored at all."

"No?" Troy asked a bit more serious and leaned even closer to her.

Her mind flashed to them kissing again and Veronica actually felt her breath catching. "No," she said quietly, her eyes caught in his.

"Good, because I'd hate to bore you," Troy said. "That would definitely dim my chances for a second date."

"Oh, we haven't even gone on a first date yet and already you're aiming for seconds?" Veronica asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Think positive, that's my motto. Beside, once I take you out you'll beg me for a second date," he promised her, putting on a cocky demure.

Veronica chuckled. "Boy, someone's ego here just went in overdrive… do you by any chance have a needle? No... wait never mind, that won't work… it wouldn't be big enough, I would need something more like an AK47, or a really huge butcher knife. Either will do."

He looked at her with a bit of a cross between a bewildered and an amazed look, but then shook it off with a laugh. "Well Mars, only speaking out of experience. But if you don't want to believe me, I guess you'll just have to see for yourself," Troy told her with a smirk and leaned another inch closer to her.

"I guess I'll have to," Veronica answered with a slight nod.

"So… What do you say? Tomorrow evening okay for you?" Troy wanted to know.

Quickly, Veronica went over her workload and shook her head. "Sorry, I may not be much into the dress up and other Barbie stuff but you still need to give this girl a little more time." Which was only partly true of course. But tomorrow she had to work for her father and it would probably be really late by the time she was done. Besides, Lilly had taught her well. Never accept the first proposition from a guy asking you out for a first date, or you may look desperate.

And Veronica wasn't desperate. Really. She was not.

Troy laughed. "Okay. One more day enough?"

"Day after tomorrow?" Veronica confirmed. "Perfect."

"Good. So I'll come pick you up at 7pm," Troy further settled.

Veronica was tempted to agree… but then, she really didn't want to make it that easy for him. Besides, she didn't really think it would be a good idea to be alone with Troy in his car. She wasn't quite sure what he expected out of their date. Hell, she wasn't sure what she expected. But she definitely didn't want things to get out of hand, either way. This was her first date since her and Duncan had broken up. It was also the first date since her rape. She didn't want to freak out when things got a little too heated. Not to mention that she wasn't a slut, despite the numerous rumors around school. And only a very kinky girl let the boy go further than a kiss on a first date, right?

"How about I'll meet you wherever you have in mind at 7 or 7:30pm?" she offered instead.

Troy gave her a surprised look. "You don't want me to pick you up?" he asked startled.

Veronica smiled. "On our first date? But Sir, that would be highly inappropriate," she playfully answered, hoping Troy wouldn't ask further. She didn't want to explain her reasons.

"Last time I checked we're in the 21st century and rule one is guy goes to fetch girl to take her out," Troy though protested lightly.

"That was actually the 20th century. Nowadays, we girls tend to be more independent," Veronica corrected him, still trying to keep the mood light and teasing. "But don't worry, I'll still let you pay," she promised him, with mock seriousness.

"Oh, how courteous of you," Troy muttered.

"Isn't it?" Veronica agreed with a small laugh. "So, where does the gentlemen intend to take me out to?"

"This totally ruins the surprise, you know," Troy said with a sigh.

"Surprises are overrated," Veronica said earnestly. It was true. She had come to hate surprises.

"Definitely not in the romance department. There, you can't have enough surprises, if you ask me. How else are we guys supposed to woo the lady otherwise?" Troy still didn't give up.

"I dunno? With your charm?" she scrunched up her nose at that, earning a laugh from him, "Good manners? Not being a jerk? Not being a typical hormone ridden man? By being imaginative?" Veronica asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Boy, you don't aim for simple, do you?" Troy asked with a laugh.

"Should I?" she wanted to know in return.

"I'll do my best to meet your high standards," Troy promised, taking a light bow.

"You better or that second date is never going to happen," Veronica nodded, trying for a stern expression.

"Ah, you gave me just the right motivator to get me into gear…" he said with a playful wink, "Okay. I'll tell you this much: Poseidon," Troy finally relented.

"The restaurant down at the marina?" Veronica clarified. Pretty fancy place, but still comfortable and even a little intimate. Good choice.

"The lady has hundred points. 7:30. I hope I'm at least allowed to escort you into the restaurant?" he wanted to know.

"You may," Veronica agreed with what she hoped wasn't an over enthusiastic smile.

"Good, so day after tomorrow, 7:30 pm, right?" Troy asked, his eyes boring into hers, full of promise.

Her heart beating a little bit faster, Veronica nodded.

"It's a date," he said quietly, and leaned closer. But just before their lips touched, he drew back and straightened up. "Then until then, Milady," he told her with a wink and turned around to head away, not looking back once.

Boy… Troy sure knew how to tease, Veronica thought with a mixture of annoyance and amusement. Though, to be honest, she was also relieved that he had pulled back. She wasn't quite sure if she could have stopped the kiss. She did want to kiss him, but certainly not here in school, for all her enemies to watch and later ridicule it... and give a revivified and new breath to the rumors about her going around Neptune High's lightning speed rumor mill.

"Uh Veronica?"

At the hesitant voice, Veronica looked up to see Justin standing a few feet away from her. Right… he had spoken up to her yesterday evening, something about a case for her. She had told him to contact her today. She sighed. Looked like it was back to business now.

"Justin, hey. Still want my help on something?" she asked, almost hoping he'd say no. Sure, she needed the money, but right now she'd be glad to not have a new case to worry about. After all, she was still trying to figure out what she should do about the speeding ticket that proved Lilly had been still alive when, according to the coroner, she was supposed to already be dead. On top of that, she still didn't know what her mom had been doing in a motel room with Jake Kane – or why she had been here in Neptune but didn't even bother to contact her husband or her daughter. Plus, there was the date she now had to worry about as well.

Glancing around, the boy nodded nervously. "Is there perhaps, well, someplace else we could talk? With less people? Just… you and me?" he asked unsure, blushing a little.

Veronica frowned. Okay, it was what she would have suggested next, but now, she suddenly wasn't so sure about that anymore. Something at his nervousness seemed off. Hell, what was she thinking? Justin was still a boy! She had nothing to worry about him!

"Sure, meet me in the girl's bathroom off to the right side of the main hall," she told him and checked her watch. "In five minutes," she added.

His eyes widened and suddenly, he looked almost afraid. "The girl's bathroom? But I can't go in there!" he exclaimed.

Veronica sighed. "Relax, I'll make sure that we're alone."

"But… but… if someone sees me! I could get in trouble and when my mom gets wind of me being caught in a girl's bathroom…" Justin started to stutter.

Rolling her eves, Veronica decided to put an end to this right now or she would probably spend the day to convince the boy to just trust her. She didn't have a day. Exasperated, she grabbed Justin's arm and simply dragged him after her without another word.

God save her from teenage boys going through full blown, blimp size puberty!

* * *

Another day, and so far, it had started a lot better than the last one, namely because he hadn't seen Troy or Veronica so far. And Logan wasn't sure just what it was, but somehow, Duncan seemed different today. More like his old self, before Lilly died, and boy, was Logan happy to see that. He had missed the Duncan he had known since kindergarten, his best friend.

Ever since Lilly's death, Duncan had been like a walking robot, hardly showing emotions, always passive. He seldom smiled, he almost never laughed and though he had made terrible jokes, Logan would give much to hear one of those terrible jokes only once.

Today now, since he had met Duncan outside in the parking lot, he had seen glimpses of that old Duncan. The change was barely noticeable, but Logan had felt it the moment they had spotted each other and Duncan had actually smiled. Not the perfected mask smile for the public, but a genuine smile. And unbelievable, but one of the first things out of Duncan's mouth had been a joke. Still a terrible one, but it was a joke, from Duncan, and that alone had made Logan laugh. And right now they were at Duncan's locker and Duncan was still more like the old Duncan than the robot he had become over this past year. He actually talked. About his newest video game, about the last soccer game, about an idea he had for an article for the navigator.

Mostly, Logan just listened and let him talk, afraid that something he would say would cause the old Duncan to vanish again. So far though it looked good and as they pushed away to move along towards their respective classrooms, he actually dared to ask a question of his own.

"Hey, did you hook up with Shelley last night?" he asked, curiously.

For quite some time now, Shelley had tried to get Duncan to go out with her. Well, actually, he was pretty sure that she simply wanted to get into his pants. Though Logan wasn't exactly her biggest fan, he had encouraged Duncan to take the girl up on his offer, especially lately. He had figured that perhaps, this time, it would help Duncan to get his mind off of a certain tiny blonde one. Or the fact that one of his friends was chasing after said girl. He had known that the chances were slim. With previously listed possibilities being so slim, the chances were even slimmer on the chance that Duncan actually went out with a girl like Shelley. Shelley Pomroy was hardly Duncan's type. She was too – experienced and forward for that. Duncan liked his girl innocent and sweet and, well, a little on the boring side. Like the way the old Veronica had been. Okay… she hadn't been really boring; otherwise she would never have been Lilly's best friend. But she sure had been a worry nut. And her coying at Duncan and vice versa had been boring to watch.

To his surprise though, Duncan nodded – while looking down at his hands. "Uh, she's a talker. She's a talker, you know," he told Logan. "Turns out she has conflicted feelings towards her new step-mom and the color scheme the woman's chosen for the family rec room…"

Unbelievable! There Duncan finally jumped over his shadow and all Shelley knew to do was bitch about her step-mom. "I hate it when they talk!" Logan sympathized.

Shelley, a talker… who would have thought...

"Yeah, I know it," Duncan agreed with a sigh.

Chuckling, Logan looked up from his watch he was fingering – and stopped dead at the sight that caught his eyes. Fuck.

There they were. And if he wasn't very wrong, the body language they displayed could only mean one thing. Something had happened between those two and they were moving ahead.

Shit. Why now? When Duncan had finally come out of his shell a little! He watched Troy leaning a little closer to Veronica and his eyes narrowed.

That bastard! He wanted to kill him!

He really would have liked to rip the guy a new one right now. But it wasn't his place. Actually, as long as Duncan still saw Troy as a friend, he had to hold back. Then again, perhaps that would change the closer Troy got to Veronica.

Perfect time to find out. "Hey," Logan stopped Duncan with a pat against his chest. "Have you noticed that the new kid in town has, uh," he glanced over to the probably soon to be couple, "been all over your trailer-park ex?" he asked pretty provocatively.

Duncan glanced towards where Logan was looking but showed now emotion at all at the sight of his friend almost kissing his ex-girlfriend. "Let it be, Logan," he simply said, shaking his head once.

It was obvious that he was displeased with Logan's choice of words. And it was even more obvious that apparently he still considered Troy as a friend. That he didn't mind seeing them almost kissing. "Okay, nowhere man, you be the fool on the hill," Logan retreated back with a sarcastic laugh and glowered over to the couple again. "See if I care," he said more to himself and looked away.

Why didn't Duncan bug the sight of Troy all over Veronica as much as it did Logan? It was his ex-girlfriend after all, not Logan's, and his friend, not Logan's. He looked at his best friend, trying to find an answer there. He didn't, but he did notice that Duncan looked kind of pale and green all of a sudden.

"Dude, you don't look so hot," he said concerned, frowning a little.

Duncan made a 'hang on' gesture towards him and then suddenly, dropped his bag and turned on his heel, rushing towards the bathroom.

Perplexed, Logan stared after his best friend. What the hell had happened all of a sudden? He looked back to Veronica and Troy, just in time to see him lean so much into her that they would be kissing next. His face darkened as his eyes narrowed to slits. The reaction was a bit strong, but it wouldn't surprise him if the sight of those two almost making out right in the hallway hadn't made Duncan run to the bathroom. Actually, he himself almost felt bile rise in his throat at the sight alone. Grimly, he threw a last glare their way before he snatched up Duncan's bag and turned his back on them.

He went over to wait outside the boy's bathroom for Duncan. His mind still on Veronica and Troy, Logan, annoyed, opened Duncan's bag and got out his notebook for the navigator, and started to leaf through it. He knew Duncan wouldn't mind, he showed the notebook several times to Logan, so Logan already knew most of it. Duncan would write drafts of an article in it, ideas and – and that was what Logan was looking for now, sometimes he made a mock article, stating what he really thought about a special article he was told to do and in which he had to give a complete different opinion than to what he really thought about that special topic. They were full of sarcasm and wit and Logan loved to read them. Soon he found one from last week he didn't know yet and after the first few sentences, Logan had forgotten about Veronica and Troy and Duncan and all that shit and simply was engrossed in reading. So engrossed that he almost missed Duncan coming out of the bathroom again, looking a lot better than only a few minutes before.

He pushed the notebook back into Duncan's back bag, making a note to later finish the text he had been reading, before he looked back to Duncan. "You okay?" he asked.

"Never better," Duncan said, sounding cheerful.

"Okay," Logan said slowly, still wondering a little about the strange episode and how fast Duncan seemed to have recovered.

He handed Duncan his bag and bent down to get his own bag when he once again spotted Veronica. This time though she was busy dragging a freshman into the girl's bathroom. Logan followed her with her eyes, actually took a step forward to see her vanish behind the door. She had looked like being on a mission. Briefly, Logan wondered what that mission could be. He didn't peg Veronica for someone to be into younger guys – especially after seeing her with Troy only minutes before. But the boy sure had looked quite spooked.

Straightening up, Logan smirked, amused. "That girl is seriously whack," he commented dryly, noticing that Duncan had watched her as well.

Duncan just shook his head, chuckling himself a little. He followed Logan as he moved ahead. "I wonder what she wants with that boy in there though," he remarked.

Logan shrugged. "Perhaps doing him the favor and take his virginity. Wonder how much that will cost him," he offered with a leer.

Duncan frowned. "Jeez Logan…" he warned.

Logan sighed. "Or perhaps she's pulling that Nancy Drew act again she has going on lately," he added, more seriously.

"What?" Duncan asked.

Arching an eyebrow, Logan glanced at him. "Haven't you heard? She's doing jobs for everyone who pays enough. Finding out stuff about other people, retrieving things, such things," he told him with a frown. How could Duncan _not_ have heard about this?

"She does? Really? Veronica?" Duncan asked amazed.

"Didn't you hear about how she got that Fennel kid off the hook?" Logan asked unbelieving. "Or how she proved that it had been Chardo who had stolen my Mom's credit card, not Weevil?"

Duncan shrugged. "Sure. Just thought it was a single case," he muttered. "It just doesn't seem like her, you know."

Logan looked away. It didn't seem like the old Veronica – but it sure did seem like Veronica 2.0. It wasn't the first time that Logan noticed that Duncan seemed blind to the changes in his ex-girlfriend. Sometimes it was as if he had forgotten all that happened in the last year. Then again, Duncan still stayed away from Veronica so perhaps he hadn't forgotten after all. Still… he simply didn't see this new Veronica with her attitude. Logan had tried to point it out to Duncan, to no avail, so he simply shrugged and said nothing.

Actually, he had enough of talking about Veronica. Wasn't it enough that he couldn't stop to think about her lately? Had he to talk about her the whole time now? No. So he changed topic. "You going to go out with Shelley again?" he asked curiously.

Duncan shrugged. "Dunno. We haven't settled anything yet. I guess I'll just see what the day brings."

Logan grinned. "That's the plan, Dude," he agreed as they entered their classroom.

* * *

"The girl finally came to her senses!" Troy said happily as he sat down beside Duncan at the lunch table.

"What?" Duncan asked.

"She finally said yes!" Troy grinned.

"Veronica?" Duncan clarified with a frown.

Troy nodded. "Though I sure don't get that girl. First she refuses day after day and then out of the blue, this morning, she suggests going out. Not that I'm complaining."

"She suggested it?" Logan asked puzzled.

Troy nodded again. "Here I bump into her, she looks at me all weird for a moment and then she says 'let's go out'. I don't know what changed her mind, but I sure am grateful to whomever or whatever has done the deed." He shook his head and smiled. "She sure was unusually resistant against my unbeatable charm."

Duncan laughed dryly. "Must have worried you."

"Me? Nah, I knew she would fall sooner or later," Troy answered with a leer, whereas Duncan shook his head.

Logan said nothing. First of all because he was still tired to talk about Veronica around the clock and second because he was too preoccupied by thinking about Veronica's change of mind. He wondered what had been the decisive factor for her. It did seem to be a bit of an abrupt change of mind, even for this new Veronica. Perhaps even more for her than for the old one. What he had learned of the new Veronica was that she was sarcastic, bitter, witty, didn't give a damn what anyone thought or said about her, stubborn, if not outright pigheaded, ruthless, sneaky, predictable unpredictable and yeah, in a few ways, funny and fascinating. Oh, and not forget irritating. Above all, she irritated the hell out of Logan. But he had noticed something else about her: if possible, she didn't rush into things anymore. Not that the old Veronica used to be one to do something without thinking. Under the influence of Lilly and even himself though, she had relented and done a thing here or there without thinking. Not so the bitch version. Nowadays, Veronica seemed to put much thought into everything before she did anything. It was what made her more dangerous, the bong in his locker had proven that.

Okay, so Troy had been asking her out for a while now. Still… from the way he told it, her decision to relent in the end had come pretty abrupt and he couldn't help but wonder why.

"Hey, Shelley, wait up!"

Duncan's call brought Logan out of his reverie and he looked up to see Duncan hastily leave their table to catch up with Shelley. He looked after him, then at Troy's self-indulgent face. Hmm… if he wasn't very wrong, Duncan would soon go out with Shelley again. Interesting. His best friend may act like Troy showing up and boasting around with his impending date with Veronica meant nothing to him and left him cold, but Logan knew him better. He found it very telling that Duncan went to hook up with Shelley again right now, especially after his telling of yesterday's events and the palpable reluctance to do just that.

Logan just wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing.

* * *

What the hell was wrong with her?

There she had a wonderful, funny, romantic evening with Troy, everything was going perfect and then _that_!

What was wrong with her? Why had she drawn back? She had expected that to happen. She had known that it would happen, as great as the date had gone. Hell, she knew if she wanted to be totally honest, then she would say that she wanted it to happen.

She wanted to kiss Troy. Wanted to be kissed again, that feeling of total elation. That feeling of being wanted by a guy.

Yet, when Troy had finally leaned done, coming in for the kiss, she had nothing better to do than jerk back. Why? Why, why, why? He was cute, he was pretty smart from what she had gathered so far, he made an effort to befriend Wallace as well, he was funny, he had his own mind and didn't dance to anyone's whistle and he looked good. Damn, he did look _good_. She definitely liked him.

But if she liked him so much, why the hell hadn't she let him kiss her? What was she waiting for? For the butterflies in her stomach? For the bells to start ringing? Fireworks? She wasn't that girl anymore. And though she hadn't felt butterflies, she for sure had felt a tightening in her stomach in anticipation. Still… something had her jerking back in the last minute.

Could it be that she didn't trust him? Well, she didn't trust him enough to sleep with him, not yet, of course, but for a simple kiss she wanted? Yeah, she did trust him enough for that. So why? Was it perhaps the rape? Was something in her head blocking her from now on whenever she got too close to a guy and potential hurt? Even for a harmless kiss? She had thought not. Then again, this was the first time since it had happened, so she couldn't say with certainty that that wasn't actually the case. She thought not though. God, she hoped that wasn't the reason.

The question still remained though: why did she stop the kiss before it could even happen?

She didn't know. She just knew that in that moment, it had felt wrong, as strange as it was. She… for a moment, the image of Duncan had flashed on her mind, as strange as that was. Or perhaps not. While Troy's tales had been entertaining and interesting, a lot of them had also included Duncan, some even Lilly. Perhaps all this talk had somehow made her feel reluctant to accept another guy's kiss.

After all, her and Duncan had been together a long time. She had loved him. Her naïve self may even have thought that he was _the_ guy. And truth was that even though they were over for a long time now – there were still certain things that hung in the air between them.

Whatever it was, it was unfair. Duncan was the one who had broken up with her. _He_ had acted like she was nothing than air. _He_ had treated her as if she was invisible for a year now. And he had moved on a long time ago. Hell, she had heard murmurings of Duncan and Shelly now going out. So why should she have to feel almost something guilty-like for going out herself again. She was seventeen for heaven's sake, she was allowed to date!

And date she damn well would! She liked Troy and this was her chance at having a relationship again. Well, if this evening hadn't blown it all already. Veronica wouldn't let whatever strange thing that had kept her from agreeing to a kiss ruin her first attempt at a normal life again.

Tomorrow, she'd tried to talk with Troy, apologize, and make sure that he knew that it hadn't been him, that she did want to go out with him, that she did want them to kiss.

Yeah. That was what she was going to do.

* * *

"Yo, Logan, got a minute?"

"I suppose," Logan said, not too enthusiastic, and closed the comic he had been reading.

Troy took a look around at the near empty schoolyard. They both had a free period at the moment, so they were almost alone and the few others gathered around as well were no 09ers and therefore out of earshot. It seemed to satisfy Troy as he sat down vis-à-vis from Logan.

"A while back you mentioned that you know Veronica pretty good," Troy began.

Inwardly, Logan sighed. Again Veronica. It seemed as if he couldn't escape her lately. "Perhaps," he answered shortly. "But you may have also noticed then that I'm neither a fan of her, nor keen on talking about her."

"Yeah, that was unmistakable," Troy nodded relaxed. "Thing is though that the girl drives me crazy and now I'm looking for someone who might help me understand her a little better. I can't go to Wallace. First, he's too close to Veronica and second, he doesn't know her much longer than I do. I listened around a bit, but most seem only to know her superficially. Or not at all and only have lies to tell about her. That leaves me with two options." He gave Logan a long look. "Actually, only one, because the other one is Duncan and I really don't think it's a good idea if I go to him and question him about his ex-girlfriend, as cool as he seems to be with me seeing her." He paused for a moment. "So that leaves you."

Logan shook his head. "Nothing against you, but no. Not interested," he told Troy straight out.

Troy raised an eyebrow. "And why not?"

Irritated, Logan shook his head. "There are many reasons, but most of all because Veronica isn't my business anymore. In kind you haven't noticed, we pretty much hate each other. Helping you would probably include helping her, directly or indirectly, and that's something I sure as hell won't do. I avoid doing so whenever possible."

For a long moment, Troy held his gaze. "Why do you hate her so much?" he asked quietly.

"None of your business," Logan snapped.

"Or is the problem that you don't hate her as much as you think you should?" Troy though insisted.

With a glare, Logan got up from the bench.

"Wait!" Troy quickly exclaimed. "I'm sorry, okay? But… look, I see that you got no reason to help me, let alone her, but… I just want to know if she has any problems with uh… with getting close to a guy."

Puzzled by that question, Logan frowned at Troy, for the moment having forgotten his reluctance to even listen to the guy. "What?"

"Well, she's keeping sending mixed signals. She agrees to go out but she won't let me pick her up at home and I can't help but think that she's not comfortable at the thought of us alone in a car. We have a good time and everything goes _right_, but when I want to kiss her, she suddenly gets nervous and jerks back which at least seemed to surprise her as much as it did me. I just…" Troy sighed and shrugged. "I dunno. On one hand she teases like hell but as soon as I get too close she sort of clams up. I just wonder if it's just me or if that's just the way she is."

Still frowning, Logan shook his head. "And how am I supposed to help you here, huh? I never went out with her. How the hell should I know what's normal for her or not?"

Though, he did find her reaction a bit strange.

Troy held his eyes. "But you're her ex-boyfriend's best friend. And I bet Lilly let you in on one or two Veronica secrets as well. Plus, you said yourself that once you were her friend too."

Logan laughed sarcastically. As if he needed a reminder of that. Though, when he looked away, his mind kept pondering Troy's words. Something at Troy's tale irked Logan, he just couldn't point it out. But one thing was for sure: She sure had had no problem kissing Duncan or being close to him. While Veronica and Duncan never had as a physical relationship as he and Lilly had had, they did have a certain… closeness, an intimate air around them if you will. They even had made out with each other, at least according to Lilly and Duncan, even though it never went beyond that. And before Duncan, from what he had heard, she had no problem kissing her dates either, not that there had been many boys. Most had been too much afraid of Daddy Sheriff, something he could sympathize with only too well. Her dad _did_ have a gun. Numerous. And then, they also had too much respect of Duncan and Logan, because they had made sure that the boys knew not to mess with one of their girls, even before they had hooked up with Lilly and Veronica. Only fools went against the sheriff and two of the most influential guys of Neptune. Not to mention that contrary to Lilly, Veronica never had been that crazy for guys.

But that was the past and the old Veronica. The new one? He honestly had no idea how she dealt with guys romantically. As far as he knew Troy was the first boy she had gone out with since Duncan, though he couldn't put his hand into fire for that. He simply knew that he had never seen a guy sniffing around her before Troy and neither had he ever heard rumors that someone had gone out with her. She had seemed – almost abstinent, sexless for the greater part of this past year.

Okay, well, there had been that party at Shelley's last year… but that didn't count. She had been drunk then. Beyond drunk actually, so drunk that he doubted that she remembered much about that night. Veronica, both Veronicas, were many things, but she sure wasn't a drinker, seldom taking more than one or perhaps two glasses of alcohol, depending on the strength of the stuff, and the size of the packaging. Probably because of her mother's addiction to the good stuff. It had surprised him back then that she had let herself go like that, drowning herself in alcohol. It was so unlike her. Then again, Lilly's death had changed many things. God knew he himself had tried to drown the pain in alcohol a few times. So why not Veronica as well? What he hadn't expected was to find out that a drunk Veronica was quite a tease. Still… Yeah, she may have been a bit flirty and even clingy back then but the alcohol couldn't turn a virgin like her into a slut, sleeping with every random guy she crossed path with. Though he had no problem to sire just that rumor, even if he knew that she had gone off with Duncan in the end and Duncan would have kept an eye on her – like he always did, either a watchful eye… or a lustful one.

Hmm… Duncan.

That may be it. He looked back to Troy. "I can't help you… but if you ask me, then you're wasting your time anyway. I doubt you'll listen but if I were you, I'd just forget about her and look for a girl that isn't still hung up on her ex."

Before Troy could say something, Logan left.

* * *

At lunch, Logan wasn't in the best of moods – thanks to Troy and his stupid inquiry about Veronica. Really, did he look as if he cared anything at all about how the date between them had gone? Had he ever given any sign that he had any in-depth knowledge in Veronica's dating behavior?

The answer would be a no to all questions. Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!

Grumbling, Logan leaned back to take a look around and get his mind off Troy and Veronica. Of course his eyes fell right on a certain little blonde pain in the ass, approaching one of the freshman's tables with fast, purposeful strides. Normally, he would have quickly looked elsewhere, but boy, even from where he was sitting he could see that she was _pissed_. Her eyes were blazing and narrowed and it looked as if she breathed fire and spit lightening. He just couldn't look away, finding himself too intrigued to see what she would do in that fury. She reached the table and not thirty seconds afterwards, all but one of the boys scattered away, their eyes wide. He couldn't blame them. As it was, he was pretty happy that he wasn't on the other end of that glare. After all, he knew from personal experience what it felt like, and it was scary. The fact that she didn't know about said fear was another story.

Poor boy. Logan couldn't hear what Veronica said to the guy, nor had he any idea what was going on, but if he wasn't wrong then this was the boy she had dragged into the bathroom the other day. So he assumed it had something to do with one of her 'cases'. Something that hadn't made her happy at all, from the look of it, and the boy now seemed to have to take the brunt of it.

A person would be crazy to go to Veronica in the first place, and would obviously not know about any of the dangers of it. This boy obviously didn't value his loins.

Chuckling, Logan finally took his gaze off them and glanced at Duncan, sitting beside him. His best friend was still on the track to recovery, as Logan saw it, but today something was a little off with him. He wasn't too surprised to find him staring over to Veronica like transfixed, but was that… Logan narrowed his eyes. Was Duncan blushing?

Before he could process that, Shelley walked by – not without sending a death glare Duncan's way as Logan noticed.

Hmm… interesting.

"Hey DK, you hooked up with Shelley again, yesterday?" he asked curiously.

Was he imagining or did Duncan's blush just deepen? "Duncan?" he asked.

"Uh… yeah… yeah I did," Duncan said evadingly, his eyes everywhere but on Logan.

"She talked your ears off again?" Logan wanted to know, intrigued by Duncan's strange behavior.

"Uh… no. Not really," Duncan answered, still very evadingly.

Logan looked a moment longer at his best friend and then looked after Shelley. "So… if you not talked then you got to business?" he asked nonchalantly.

Duncan didn't answer. Didn't need to.

"Then why's the girl glaring at you as if you've stolen her credit cards and closed off her accounts?" Logan asked with a raised eyebrow.

With a sigh, Duncan finally glanced at Logan, if only briefly. "Shut it, Logan," he told him annoyed and with a slight edge in his voice.

"Okay, chill man," Logan said with a little laugh, holding up his hands. "Just wanted to hear how last night went and if Shelley's going to be in the limo to homecoming with us."

After all, he knew his best friend well enough to know when it was to back off. Though he really was curious just what had gone on with Shelley and Duncan last night.

"Hardly," Duncan muttered and looked back at Logan. "And since when are we going to homecoming?"

Logan grinned. "Come on, DK, we can't not go to the biggest event of the year, now, can we?"

Duncan looked away. "I'm not sure I want to go," he said quietly, wearing an expression that told Logan that his friend was far, far away from the here and now.

And he bet he knew about just what he was thinking. Homecoming last year. When they had had the best party ever. When it had been just the four of them, Duncan and Ronnie and Lilly and Logan. Lilly. Quickly, Logan pushed the memory away. "'Course you'll go. It will do you good. Go ask a nice girl and we'll have the best of times," he tried to convince Duncan. Or maybe himself, he wasn't quite sure.

Looking down, Duncan slowly shook his head. "I don't think I can, Logan," he said in almost a whisper.

Logan said nothing. To be honest, he wasn't sure if he could enjoy homecoming either so who was he to try convince Duncan? Then again, it was still some time left until the big night, time to decide.

After a long moment, Duncan looked up and when his eyes met Logan's, they were strangely soft. "Shelley's mad because I said Veronica's name while making out with her," he said matter of factly and stood up. "Because for a moment there, I thought that she was Veronica that I'm kissing, Veronica that I am making out with and be on the brink of sleeping with."

Thus said, he turned and left, leaving Logan to stare after him open-mouthed.

'Damn…' was all Logan could think.

* * *

Logan didn't see Duncan again for the rest of the day. And even on the next day it was only after the last period that he and his best friend met again and frankly, that was a good thing. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do after Duncan's revelation. Was he even supposed to do something? What? Yell at Duncan that it was stupid to think about Veronica in that way again? Go get him a hooker to take his mind off the tiny blond one? Try to hook him up with Ronnie again, or at least arrange for them two to have it out once and for all, either way?

The last one was an option he would never consider, even with the threat of his dick being cut off, and that was something he valued as much, or more than life itself. It would end up with either Duncan being down and out again, not a good thing after so much improvement today, or Veronica coming back, and that was something Logan didn't want at all.

Fuck.

This wasn't any of his business anyway! If Duncan wanted to go back to Veronica, fine, he just shouldn't expect that Logan wanted her tagging along ever again. It wasn't his problem that Duncan couldn't simply forget about the bitch and in the process forgot all of the pain she had caused to Duncan, his family, to Logan.

And yeah, he was angry. Angry with Duncan for dumping all that shit on him and especially, he was angry with Veronica for being the source of all the trouble. The more time he had to think about it, the angrier he grew.

He and a few of the boys had gone to watch the lacrosse practice. There was a game against Pen High ahead and, nothing better to do, they had thought they could as well go see how their team was doing. See which bet would promise the most profit.

That's where Duncan joined them. Logan barely glanced at him.

Duncan though acted like nothing had happened at all. He was joking with Bobby and Mike and basically, he looked totally relaxed.

Somehow, that annoyed Logan even more, he thought sullenly as he took a sip from his flask. Was he the one on the brick to catastrophe or Duncan? Yet, Duncan seemed more cheerful and happier than he had been in a long time, totally in contrast to his somber mood at lunch the day before.

A tiny part of Logan that didn't sulk was happy to see his friend laughing – really truly laughing again. Though, if he wanted to be honest, the mood swings Duncan had gone through in the past few days worried Logan a bit. He knew abrupt and many mood swings seldom were a good sign, at least they weren't with his mother, but then, as far as Logan knew, Duncan wasn't into pills or alcohol. Still, it was strange: one second, Duncan was fine, the next he felt queasy. One moment he was laughing, the next he was sad. One moment he was angry, the next it was like nothing ever happened.

Down on the field, one of the players performed a very nice move, resulting promptly in a goal and the boys on the tribune stood up to whoop.

Good so! So far, their team had shown a solid performance. If they played like that in the upcoming game, Pen High would only be able to eat their dust. Yeah, Logan felt pretty safe to bet on Neptune High.

"Go Pirates!" Duncan yelled heartfelt.

Logan glanced at him as they all sat down again. He didn't know what devil rode him right now, but he wanted to wipe the careless grin off of Duncan's face. "Hey uh…" Logan spoke up to him, tapping Duncan with his flask before he laid back, resting his head on the legs of the guy behind him. "I thought your boy toy Troy was going to join us for Happy Hour this afternoon," he goaded.

Duncan gave him a look, didn't seem too fazed by Logan's words though.

Narrowing his eyes, Logan delivered the strike. "You don't suppose that, uh, he got waylaid by Veronica, do you?" he asked, wriggling his eyebrows.

In a flash, Duncan whipped around and grabbed the flask out of his hands, just as Logan was about to take a swig. Letting the anger that had built up inside him flow, Logan shot to his feet and faced off Duncan. A tiny voice in his mind screamed at him, asking what the hell he was thinking, that this was his best friend, but he was too angry to listen to the voice.

Duncan's eyes were angry and hard, but there it happened again, a second, and they took on a wicked gleam and Duncan raised an eyebrow. "Oooooh, Grasshopper too slow for Kung-Fu Master," he mocked and backed away from Logan.

He couldn't explain it - but watching Duncan's ridiculous performance, hearing that fake Chinese accent – but all of a sudden, Logan's anger vaporized. Perhaps because it had been so long since he had last seen Duncan fooling around.

"If you can take the flask out of my hand then you will be the…"

So he wanted to play around? Fine. Before Duncan could finish the sentence, Logan feigned to wave him off but then quickly lunged for the flask. Duncan though had anticipated it and held the flask out of Logan reach. "…new master," he finished smugly.

With a crazy grin, Logan honed in on him and they wrestled for a moment, before Duncan turned and escaped, Logan hot on his heels.

Not that they could go far on a tribune. Logan caught up with him when they came back to the laughing group but after a short wrestle, Duncan freed himself, getting on another step. Logan let him and sat back down instead, shaking his head.

Duncan though wasn't finished yet. Nope, looked like he only just got started. "Wait, wait, wait. Guys! Check this out. Six guys. Bleachers." He grinned. "Jump in when you're feeling this, okay?" he prompted before he launched himself into singing full out one of the songs out of 'Grease' - badly. "Summer loving had me a blast…"

Amused now, Logan shook his head. "What has gotten into you, man?" he asked, meaning it more seriously than he let it sound though. Really. What the hell was going on with his best friend?

At that moment, Dick called out from the side railing of the bleacher. "Hey, check it out!"

When they all looked over, Dick helped Randy McCormick to climb onto the railing from where Randy performed a backwards flip and vanished. For a moment, the boys stared at the empty spot before they got back their bearings and raced over to the railing to check on Randy.

Logan took in a sigh of relief when he saw that Randy had landed on a pile of mats and was unhurt. Asshole. But then, Randy wasn't on the gymnastics team for nothing. Right. Joining in on the laughter, Logan nodded. "Crazy is as crazy does. Bravo! Bravo! Encore! Encore!" he congratulated and turned away to go back to where they had sat along with the rest of the guys.

When he noticed that Duncan wasn't coming with them, he stopped and looked back to see Duncan still at the railing, staring at something. When he finally turned and slowly came back, the happiness and foolishness was gone from his face, replaced by somber once again. What…

Duncan handed Logan his flask back as soon as he reached him but then, suddenly, he spun back around and raced back to the railing. Letting out a war-cry, he made a hand-stand onto the rail and then let himself fall down on the other side.

* * *

This day hadn't gone well so far. Actually, these past couple of days hadn't gone well. First finding out that Justin had sent her onto a bogus chase for his father who was dead for years now to then find out that apparently, Justin's dad was alive after all. She had been as flabbergasted to hear about that as Justin had been and she had had no idea what to say to Justin in return. Thankfully, the problem had solved itself when Justin had jumped up and raced away, the letter his father had returned clutched into his hand. Truth was that the case hit Veronica a little too close for her taste. Okay, her mother wasn't dead – as far as she knew. But she sure had run away as well and recent revelations indicated that she for sure had been lying to her husband and Veronica as well. So no, Veronica definitely didn't like how this case had developed so far.

Then, there was Troy. He had avoided her ever since their date. Not once he had come up to her to greet her, flirt with her, joke around with her, anything. And she was surprised to find out that she actually had missed Troy and his constant passes at her. Though she really couldn't blame him. After the horrible end of their date she guessed it was only understandable that Troy wasn't keen on seeing her.

But that also gave her no chance to make it up to him. Or to make him see that she still very much liked him and did want to go out with him again. Because she _had_ enjoyed their date, a lot, in fact. Okay, she wasn't quite sure how to convince Troy of her sincerity there, after her reaction to his try to kiss her, but if he wouldn't let her close to him she definitely couldn't do anything about it!

When the last period was over and Troy had still not come up to her, she knew that she had to make the first step. She had known all along, but a tiny part of her had hoped that his male ego wasn't too crushed and he simply went back to go after her like before their date and the disastrous 'no-kiss'. No so luck though. So, when she saw him heading down to the sports field, she swallowed her pride and hurried after him.

"Troy!" She called up after him. When he showed no reaction, nor slowed down, Veronica quickened her steps. "Hey Troy, wait a moment," she called out again as she finally caught up with him.

"Don't run Veronica, people might think that you're desperate," Troy said dryly, but at least acknowledged her presence at last.

Boy, it looked like she had to buckle up quite a bit here. "That would be a step up, reputation wise," Veronica replied as dryly – and truthfully.

But it seemed as if her words, or her tone, had gotten through to Troy as he paused to look down at her skeptically. It wasn't much, but at least it was an eye contact.

He started to walk again after a moment and Veronica kept pace with him. "I guess that all depends on who you're asking," he said though in a gentler tone and Veronica could almost feel him relaxing a bit.

"Yeah well, that's only a recent change, believe me," Veronica admitted, trying not to sound too bitter.

"Then, the guys on this school are real fools," Troy said softly.

Veronica cast a glance at him before she looked down, saying nothing while they continued to walk towards the lacrosse field. But his words sure warmed her – and gave her hope that perhaps, all hope wasn't lost regarding her and Troy.

If she only finally gave the guy an apologiy - or at least some sort of explanation, if only she'd knew herself just what had her made draw back from the kiss.

So apology it was.

"I think I might have given you the wrong impression. I really had a great time," she started, looking at him, hoping he could see how serious she was. "I just…"

And that was where her voice trailed off, her mind blank and unable to find any words to give him.

Troy stopped and turned to face her. "It's just that you need more, and you know you get to fill in the blank here," he told her. "A – time, b – space…"

Then again, as they said, actions spoke louder than words, or something like that? So Veronica acted. She shut Troy up mid-sentence with a kiss. At first he was too surprised to react much. Not for long though. Veronica could feel the exact moment when he recovered from his surprise. His arms slid around her to draw her closer to him and as he opened his mouth a little, their tongues met in a fierce battle. The kiss deepened and Veronica stopped to think.

Bliss, pure bliss, was all Veronica could feel – could think. Troy was one hell of a kisser.

It wasn't anything like Duncan had used to kiss her, always gentle and lovingly. It was heat and passion and lust. Lust. Veronica hadn't been sure she would ever be able to feel that again, but there it was and it felt wonderful. She felt that want again. She didn't know how much she had missed being wanted until now.

But just how it was typical in her life, the wonder of this first kiss with Troy was rudely broken by a loud scream and, only seconds afterwards, the sick sound of someone falling down and hitting the ground hard.

* * *

_  
_

His eyes wide and his heart beating fast, Logan rushed back to check on Duncan. What the fuck had he been thinking? He wasn't on the gymnastics team, never had been, never would be. While he wasn't bad at soccer, he had always sucked in gymnastics. Damn it, didn't he know that he could hurt himself pretty bad, jumping off the bleacher like that?

It seemed like an eternity until Logan finally reached the railing and could take a look down. His heart stopped for a moment when he saw Duncan laying there on the ground. No. Not Duncan too. But then he saw Duncan lifting his head, and Logan's heart started beating again.

That's when he noticed Veronica, kneeling down beside Duncan, her face pale with worry. And right behind her was Troy, looking none too happy.

Something clicked and moved in place and with it, Logan's anger was back full force.

And it tripled.

It wasn't hard to figure out what Duncan must have spotted when he had lingered back earlier on. Off to the side of the field, between the bleachers, it wasn't hard to imagine what a certain couple had been doing. What Troy and Veronica had been doing. It sure looked as if Veronica had come over her aversion to kiss Troy. And okay, on some level he could understand that Duncan had been affected by seeing his ex being kissed by another guy, one of his friends even. Logan probably would have been too. But to jump off a bleacher and risk getting his neck broken in reaction? He wasn't that stupid.

Damn it. And damn Veronica!

Duncan wanted to throw away his life for her? Fine. Fine! See if he cared! Logan joined into the stupid laughter of the other boys and grinned down to Duncan. "You okay, man? What was that, a triple klutz?" he called down to him, not that Duncan seemed to even hear him.

Oh no. His best friend's eyes were glued to the blond girl, frantically checking Duncan's head. He saw Duncan muttering something to Veronica and then the idiot laughed. When Logan saw her drawing back her hand from Duncan's head with blood on it, he felt a slight twitch of concern though. Which was stupid. The mats must have broken Duncan's fall, even if he had rolled down from the mats. Not to mention that the bleacher wasn't that high at least not from where he had fallen down. And when Duncan could leer at Veronica like he did right now, he couldn't be that hurt.

Right.

"He needs to go to the hospital." Logan could hear Veronica say with urgency, looking up.

Logan ignored her though. He was still way too angry with Duncan than to bother with her right now. The idiot probably didn't even think about what a scare he had just given his best friend. What if Duncan had been real hurt? Or even worse,_ dead_? It had been hard enough to get over Lilly's death and it definitely wasn't an experience Logan wanted to go through again. Hell, he wasn't sure if he ever could get over losing another person he loved again. But no, clearly, Duncan cared shit about such petty, little things, Logan thought angrily. "Hey Duncan, open your mouth. This'll help," he yelled, opened his flask and sprinkled down the last few sips he had in it. With satisfaction, he saw them sprinkle on Duncan, who laughed again, and on Veronica, who in return looked up to glare at Logan. For a brief moment, their eyes met and he could see just how not amused she was at his rude display. And… was that disappointment in her eyes? Before he could look closer though, she looked away, dismissing him.

"Come on," she said and with her and Troy's help, who still looked anything but happy at the interruption of Duncan's stupid stunt, Duncan got to his feet. Ignoring the other guys mocking shouts, they led him away.

Biting his lips, Logan stared after them. Perhaps he should go see if Duncan really was okay.

No. They didn't need him. Veronica would take care of things and see to it that he was okay, Logan knew that for sure, hundred percent guaranteed. He doubted that that had changed in Veronica. Before, Veronica had always been the one to stay calm when something went wrong or a crisis happened, keep a cool head and concentrate on getting help, one of the treats in her he always had admired.

_(Flashback)_

_They had just left the cinema theater and were arguing if they wanted to go to the ice parlor (Veronica and Lilly) or to the arcade to play a few games (Logan and Duncan) until they had to head home, when suddenly, a scream broke through the cool winter night. At first, no one moved. Veronica was the first to recover though and her starting off in a run finally spurted the others into action as well and they quickly went after her. _

_The screaming had gone over to wailing, but it was still easy to follow it._

_Three corners later, the foursome came to an abrupt stop. There, on the ground, lay an unconscious man, cradled in the arms of a hysterically crying woman. And blood. There was blood, slowly seeping onto the ground._

_Again, Veronica was the first of them to recover from the shock as she rushed forward to kneel down beside the wounded man. "Duncan, call 911," she ordered as she gently pried the woman's hands away to take a look at the wound in the guy's stomach. "Mam, you need to let go," she murmured to the distraught woman, but she wouldn't listen and just kept grabbing at the man. _

"_Ambulance's on their way," Duncan said as he closed his phone, his voice a little shaky. _

"_Good. Go back to the main street and watch out for them," Veronica told him without looking up. Then she addressed the woman again. "Mam, really, you need to let go. I can't help him otherwise."_

_Veronica looked up. "Lilly, Logan," she said, nodding at the woman, telling them to get her away._

_After another moment of frozen immobility, Logan finally moved and laid his arms on the woman's shoulders. By the time he had pried her away from her wounded companion, Lilly was there, ready to take her into her arms and sooth her, assuring her that everything would be okay._

_Logan looked down at the bleeding guy again and had his doubts about that. Veronica raised her head from the man's wound and met Logan's briefly. She had acted so cool so far, he was surprised to see the fear in her big green eyes. "Give me your sweater. We need to stop this bleeding," she said, her voice carrying no sign of the fear in her eyes, but only determination and calmness._

_It was a voice you listened to without arguing, and that was exactly what Logan did. He shrugged out of his coat and took his brand new, designer made, $400 sweater, and handed it to Veronica. He watched with silent admire as she pressed the balled sweater to the wound in the guy's stomach while he listened to the woman's desperate and scared voice as she told how she and her husband had been on their way home from a nice evening out in the restaurant when suddenly, this guy had shown up in front of them, knife in hand, and demanded their money and jewelry. _

_For a moment, Logan felt fear rise inside him. It could have been them. They had been on their way to the ice parlor or the arcade, all of them wearing expensive clothes, young and helpless as they may seem, and he could imagine that the little bastard would have gone for them as well._

_Sirens sounded and all of them sighed with relief. A minute later, the ambulance showed up, Duncan leading them to the wounded man. Veronica stepped away from the man as soon as the paramedics were at his side and Duncan moved over to take her into his arms. Logan and Lilly joined them and silently, the four watched as the paramedics moved efficient and had the guy in the ambulance within minutes, his wife getting in after him. Only when the ambulance had pulled away and the sirens had worn off did Logan notice Veronica shaking, sobbing into Duncan's chest as she finally allowed herself to let go and let the shock of the incident overwhelm her._

_(End Flashback)_

Pushing away from the railing, Logan slowly went down the steps, not in the mood to remain on the bleacher or to be any longer in anyone's company.

It hadn't been the first time that Veronica had acted as the rock in their little group, but it had been the moment when her ability to keep a cool head had given her, he guessed he could say, the official recognition as the strong one. Seeing her break down afterwards had freaked out Logan a bit, and he hadn't been the only one. Duncan had insisted on bringing her home then, despite Ronnie repeating that they couldn't, that they had to go to the sheriff's department to make a statement. Always the sheriff's daughter, their Ronnie. But she had no chance against the combined forces of Duncan, Lilly and Logan and in the end, she had agreed to let Duncan bring her home, only under the condition that Logan and Lilly would go straight to the sheriff and give a statement.

Keith Mars had been torn between being worried about Veronica, and being damn proud about her. Being proud had won out in the end. They all had been proud about her.

Especially Duncan.

The following day, Duncan had come to Logan, wearing a grin the size of Texas and had told him that he and Veronica were a couple now. It hadn't come as a surprise, hardly. It was no secret that Duncan was head over heels in love with Veronica to anyone but the girl of his heart. And vice versa. So Duncan's tale of how, after the night's event, he had finally made his move and kissed Veronica on her front door step only had earned him a snickered 'about fucking time' comment from Logan, though he had been happy for his best friend. For Veronica.

Would history repeat itself now? Would Duncan come to Logan tomorrow, declaring that he was finally back together with Veronica?

Logan hoped not, though he feared that the possibility of just that happening were higher than never before.

What would happen then?

Logan couldn't let Veronica in again, he just couldn't. And she didn't deserve his forgiveness, let alone Duncan's. But Duncan was a loyal person to the core. What was to happen if Duncan came and demanded of Logan to back off on Veronica? How would his reaction turn out when Logan flat out refused him, which he would? He loved Duncan, he was his best friend, but not even that could change what had gone down between Logan and Veronica, too much for Logan to forget and forgive.

But if faced with a choice between Logan and Veronica, how would Duncan decide?_ Who_ would Duncan choose?

If it were anybody other than Veronica, Logan wouldn't be worried. Even now with their sometimes a little strained friendship, he knew Duncan wouldn't hesitate to choose Logan. They were best friends, brothers. But this was Veronica. The girl that had been – and still possibly was - the love of his life. And even if she never had been Duncan's best friend, she had been one of his closest friends for years. So no. Logan wasn't sure how Duncan would decide.

And that scared him.

He didn't want to lose Duncan as well. It didn't matter in what sense, he wouldn't lose Duncan. He refused to.

But shit, what the hell was he going to do?

* * *

"Remember how things used to be?"

The question asked by Duncan on the car ride to the hospital had thrown Veronica.

How dare he? He had no right, no right at all to ask her such a question, not with how he had treated her. Didn't he know how much it hurt to think about the good old golden days when Lilly had still been alive, when Logan hadn't hated her guts, when her and Duncan had still been very much in love with each other? Did he really think she didn't think almost constantly about those times?

He had been the one to first mess things up! By breaking up with her, out of the blue, giving no reason at all. And after Lilly had died, okay, there were a lot of things that had gone wrong there, but still… he had acted as if she didn't exist. Not once had he said anything to her or said anything to Logan so he'd stop harassing her.

But here he was, asking if she remembered, sounding as if nothing wrong had happened at all.

What was he aiming for anyway? Did he suddenly want to get back with her? That, she would find highly strange after this past year. No, probably, in true male fashion, he just wanted to stir things up because she was going out with Troy now. After all, she found it highly suspicious that Duncan suddenly showed a little interest in her again right after Troy had started asking her out. First with helping her pick up her books, then with _this_ question and now letting the nurse believe she was his girlfriend.

Why had he interrupted her when Veronica had started to tell the nurse that she wasn't his girlfriend? She wasn't. Not anymore. _He _had made sure of that. Apparently, Duncan hadn't gotten the hint when she had snapped at him, 'No, not really', back in the car.

But if she thought about it, ever since his fall Duncan had behaved like… like they were still together. Never stopping to smile at her, his eyes always warm and tender, his voice soft and caring. Perhaps the fall had somehow shacked things up in his head? Or… perhaps…

Was it possible that he still had feelings for her as well? Veronica had never fooled herself in that matter. She knew that she still had feelings for Duncan, how could she not? He had been her first love and with the way things had ended, she never had been able to get a real closure. So yeah, she had feelings, but that didn't mean that she was still in love with him. She wasn't.

Wasn't she?

She stared into his eyes, eyes she knew so well and all she could see there was trust and caring. No trace of anger, no trace of indifference, no trace of the almost robot-like Duncan she had come to known ever since Lilly's death.

And despite everything, she felt time slow down while her heart beat a little faster and without any doing of her part, the corners of her lips lifted to a small smile.

That's when Jake Kane walked into the exam room in search of his hurt son.

"Why, here you are," he exclaimed with relief.

His relief faded and was replaced with surprise when he spotted Veronica though – unpleasant surprise, that much wasn't hard to see. "Veronica… we meet again."

Veronica forced a smile. "What are the odds?" she joked.

"Veronica brought me in," Duncan explained, glancing at his father.

Jake gave her a forced smile himself. "Thank you, Veronica," he said. Then, after a moment. "I think I can handle it from here."

Well, Veronica had no problem to recognize this as the verbal boot in the ass that it was. And that was just fine with her. She needed to get out of here, away from the boy she used to love and almost had fallen for again for a moment there - and the man that once was almost like an uncle or godfather to her.

"Okay, I… I have… stuff to do anyway, so…" she waved at the door and with a last strained smile, she quickly left, never stopping until she had reached her car. There though she simply sat for a long time, staring ahead.

Jake Kane.

He used to smile at her whenever he saw her. Not seldom he'd take the time to exchange a few words with her, ask her about school, family, sometimes would crack a joke. His niceness had always made up for the coldness and silent disapproval Celeste Kane had shown Veronica. When it had become clear that her father actually suspected Jake of having killed Lilly, Veronica hadn't believed him. And she had told him so. Oh, she had always stood with her father – but she had also known that Jake and her father weren't exactly the best buddies. They never had openly disliked each other until after Lilly's death and the murder investigation, but there always had been something between them she couldn't quite pinpoint. And sometimes Veronica had wondered if her dad's dislike of Jake hadn't perhaps made him draw so false conclusions.

On the other hand, Veronica had always known that her dad was one hell of a sheriff and if he was so convinced that Jake Kane had something to do with his daughter's murder… She did trust that instinct, though she still had a hard time to believe that Jake Kane was capable of murder, let alone that of his own daughter.

But he had lied about his alibi.

And then… why on Earth had he met Veronica's mom in the Camelot?

She knew of course that there was one answer that would be obvious. But Veronica refused to believe that answer. Her mother may have been a drunk and a runner… but she had loved her husband. She wouldn't have cheated on him. Besides… Jake Kane was a billionaire, defiantly not old by any means, in his mid-forties perhaps, fairly handsome. If he had wanted to cheat on his wife, why the hell with Lianne Mars of all people? Veronica bet he could have his pick on women ready to commit adultery, so why would he choose a married woman who may look good but definitely wasn't the most beautiful one and who was an alcoholic on top of it all?

Which brought her back to the question why Jake and her mother had met in the first place.

Veronica didn't know, but she intended to find out, even though she had no idea how.

For now though, she had an elusive father to find. Right. Reaching forward, Veronica started her car to head out to San Diego and the three John Smith's of which one probably was Justin's very alive father.

* * *

"You look fine," Logan said, as he came into Duncan's room the next day.

"I _am_ fine. It's my mother who has insisted for me to stay home," Duncan said, rolling his eyes

Logan grinned. "So no brain surgery? No amnesia? No thinking you're a circus artist?"

"No," Duncan laughed. "That the rumors about my stunt?"

"Yeah, some of them. One just gonna has to love our school, hasn't he?" Logan laughed as well and let the back bag slip from his arm. "Here's your homework," he said and handed the bag over to Duncan.

"Thanks," Duncan muttered sarcastically.

Logan made a light bow. "Delivered with the outmost delight of course."

"Of course," Duncan sighed.

Logan gave a shrug and looked around the room. It's been a while since he had last been here. There had been a time when Logan had been here almost every day. Then, there had come the time when Logan had spent most of his time here in the room two doors down from Duncan's. Of course, there he hadn't been almost every day. But the times he had been there… boy, that were some good memories.

Now though…

Frankly said, ever since Lilly's death he came over to visit Duncan as little as he could. If possible, they met at Logan's or elsewhere, but not here.

There were simply too many memories in this house for Logan's taste. Almost every corner reminded him of Lilly or the time when the four of them still had been together. Duncan's room was still the best… but he had to pass Lilly's on the way, as well as the bathroom. Then there was of course the living room right beside the entrance hall.

And the pool.

So many windows went directly out to the pool, just like Duncan's did.

The pool where Lilly had been found.

Where Koontz had murdered her.

Quickly, Logan turned away from the window, his hands balling to fists. That was why he avoided coming here. He couldn't understand why the Kanes hadn't sold the house, or even better, burned it down. How could they continue living at the place where Lilly had been killed?

And truth was, he hadn't looked forward to come here. But the teachers had dumped Duncan's homework on him, so he had had little choice. Besides… he had felt the need to see him, clear the air between them a little. It wasn't as if they fought. It was just that lately, he and Duncan were not on the same wave anymore, not in synchrony. Mostly because of Veronica, but it wasn't just her. There were many little things. And especially these last few weeks Logan had felt the rift between them widen.

But he didn't want that.

So, here he was. He had even firmly set his mind on not flipping out if Duncan told him that, after yesterday, he and Veronica were together again. Really, he was. So far though, Duncan had yet to mention the tiny blond one – thank God for small miracles.

The problem was just that as long as Logan didn't know where Duncan stood now… he just didn't know how to act towards Duncan. One could say that the uncertainty killed him.

Not a feeling he liked. Taking a deep breath, Logan turned to face Duncan, deciding to take the bull at his horns. "So… what had Ronnie to say about your stunt? Was she impressed?"

Quickly, Duncan looked up to meet his eyes and he frowned. "What?"

"Ronnie? You know, tiny, blond, irritating bi… uh girl that used to be your ex?" Logan reminded Duncan sarcastically. "The same girl that rushed to your side the minute you were down? Who carried you off to a hospital in a hurry? All the while totally ignoring the guy she had just kissed?"

Duncan's eyes narrowed, but then he looked away. "She drove me to the hospital, that's all,"

"Uhhuh… You sure that's all?" Logan wanted to know.

Needed to know.

"Well, she waited with me until Dad came, if that's what you want to know," Duncan answered irritably and looked back to Logan. "Or is there something else you want to know? You know, you could just ask me and get out with it."

Okay. If that's what Duncan wanted. "Are you back together with her?" Logan finally asked.

"What?" Duncan asked surprised, staring at Logan.

"Don't fool with me, Duncan. I've seen you yesterday. You ate her up with your eyes. Hell, I've seen you staring at her for a while now. So… you two back together?" Logan repeated, holding his friend's eyes.

"No," Duncan said shortly and stood up from his bed, turned away. "No, we're not and we won't. Never again. I think I've already told you that once, didn't I?"

Logan said nothing.

Duncan spun around and stepped up to Logan. "Didn't I?"

Slowly, Logan nodded.

Duncan made a 'so there' gesture and frowned furiously. "So why are you asking so stupid questions?"

Shaking his head, Logan sighed. "Don't go up the wall, man. Like said, I just noticed how you look at her again. And I well remember the last time you two got together. Wasn't so different from yesterday, you know? But hey, if you say there's no old flame flaming up again, okay man," he tried to calm down his agitated friend again. "More than happy to hear that," he added, heartfelt.

The anger left Duncan as soon as it had come and suddenly, there was something in his eyes, Logan couldn't quite define. "You don't understand. I can't… It must never happen again," he whispered, staring ahead.

Logan frowned. "What can't happen again?" he asked confused.

For a moment longer, Duncan kept staring at nothing, but then, something like a shudder ran through him and when he looked back to Logan, his eyes were clear as water again. "So, how much homework did they dump on us this time?" he asked in a perfect normal voice, as if nothing had happened at all.

It was Logan's turn to stare at him for a moment. He just couldn't get his best friend anymore. What the hell had that just been? First he gets angry for nothing, then he goes all strange and now he was back to normal again. But Logan still knew that riding on Duncan's behavior, or Veronica for that matter, would be a very bad idea right now, so he shrugged and forced a grin. "Nothing more than usual. We got an essay in history until next week which will require us to lose precious time on surfing the net for facts though."

"You could use a book, you know," Duncan told him.

Logan snickered. "Yeah right, in which century do you live?"

"The same as yours, I am just more cultivated than you," Duncan replied with a grin. "Hey, I got a new game. Wanna play?"

While Logan seldom said no to the chance to try out a new game – he needed to get out of this house. So he shook his head. "Sorry man, can't. Promised Dick and the guys that I'll meet them down at the beach after I dropped by here. You could come with me though."

Duncan made a face. "And listen to Mom nagging me for the rest of this week about it? Nah, I'll better stay home and join you tomorrow."

Logan knew Celeste Kane. And he thought that Duncan was probably right in his decision. "Okay man, see you tomorrow?" he asked, turning to the door.

"Definitely," Duncan nodded. "Thanks for bringing by the homework."

"I got you," Logan said with a shrug and left with a last "See you."

* * *

Unfortunately, Logan didn't see Duncan the next day. At least not the Duncan he had left in his room the last day. The Duncan that greeted him in the school's parking lot was Robot Duncan again. Logan had seen it the second he had seen Duncan's eyes, all impersonal and almost dead.

"Hey," Logan greeted him uncertainly.

"Hey," Duncan greeted back unemotionally and walked by, heading towards the school.

Confused, Logan slowly followed him. "Hey… Is everything okay?" he asked hesitantly as they climbed the steps to the main entrance.

"Everything's fine," Duncan said in the same even voice as before.

Logan glanced at him. No. Nothing was fine. What had happened? Why was Duncan back to – _this_?

They said nothing more while they entered and walked down towards their lockers. That's when Logan saw Veronica coming from another direction and for a change, he was almost glad to see her. He hated to see Duncan so – lifeless. And Logan could say about Veronica what he wanted, but at least she had always been able to bring out a reaction from Duncan. Not always one Logan liked, but right now, especially after the last few days where Logan had had the old Duncan back, he'd take whatever he could.

When she spotted them, Veronica paused and the smile she sent Duncan was almost like a blow to Logan's stomach. He hadn't seen her smile like that since like ever. So warm, so friendly, so… like her.

"Hey, how's your head?" she asked Duncan softly.

But this time, against Logan's hope, Duncan just stared at her for a moment like he had never seen her before, like she was completely indifferent to him. "It's better," he finally said shortly and brushed by her, not glancing twice at her.

Veronica's face fell and she stared after him. They both did. When she turned, her and Logan's eyes met for a moment. "What happened?" she wanted to know worriedly, confused.

Logan held her eyes for a moment longer. "Your guess is as good as mine," he finally said quietly and also moved past her to follow Duncan. He looked back after a few steps though and saw how she stared down at the floor. Then, suddenly, she looked back and he could see determination on her face. Clutching her keys in her hand, she turned and headed – out? Logan frowned. Where was she going? He actually almost called out to her to ask just that – but he caught himself in time.

With an angry frown he turned away.

He didn't care anymore what Veronica Mars did, he reminded himself firmly and pushed his way through the pupils at Neptune High.

* * *

Everything was crumbling apart. Again. Her mother was gone, vanished from the face of Earth. Again. Duncan was back to his lifeless shell. Again. And she was alone. Again.

No… no, that wasn't fair. She had her dad. He had always been there for her, and she knew, he would be there now also. But that wasn't the same. He wasn't her mom. He wasn't Duncan. He wasn't the friends she had lost. She would never exchange him for anything or anyone, but sometimes, he just wasn't enough. But there was also Wallace now. But he barely knew anything from her past. She had never gotten around to tell him about Lilly and Duncan and Logan. He probably had heard stories, but outside the four of them, no one really knew just how close they had been, what their friendship had meant to each of them.

Truth was that each of them had needed each other's friendship like it was air to breathe. Out of different reasons, yet, similar. Perhaps that was the reason why none of them really functioned right anymore. Duncan had simply turned off and become a shell of his old self, Logan had turned into Neptune's biggest jackass and she… she had become hard, tough. And alone. At least, Duncan and Logan still had each other, but her?

She liked Wallace, a lot – in the platonic sense, but he couldn't give her what they had given her, at least not yet. Warmth. Acceptance. Love. Unquestionable companionship.

She had lost Duncan's love. Lilly altogether. Then Logan's friendship. Followed by her mom's abandonment.

But right now, as she drove back from her fruitless search for her mother, she desperately longed for someone to love her, for her, and not because he almost had no choice like her dad. Just someone to hold her because he cared for her. To let her cry and not judge her, smother her, use it against her.

She had no one like that. But perhaps, this could change, she thought as she pulled her car to a stop. Before she lost her courage, she got out and sat onto the hood of the LeBaron, not trusting her knees. Her hands shaking, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed.

"Hello?"

"Hi," she greeted. "I'm outside your house."

There was a moment of silence. "I'll be right outside." The line went dead at the same time as a light in the house next to where she had parked went on. Veronica gave a relieved laugh. At least he hadn't told her to go straight to hell.

The door opened and Troy came out, looking at her for a brief moment before he came over to her.

"It's about time," he told her gently.

His words broke down a damn and before Veronica knew it, she was in his arms, crying, while she held on him for dear life. And just like she had wished for, he let her cry while he held her, making soothingly circles on her back.

After a while, Veronica didn't know how long, she felt her tears dry up and after another long moment, she drew back, smiling weakly at him. "Boy, you must really think I'm totally whacko."

His eyes gentle, Troy reached out to cup her face with one of his hands. "Actually no. I just think that this was something you should have done before. You sure seemed to need it."

She nodded and looked down embarrassedly. "I… I owe you a few apologies. And explanations, I know and I'll…"

"Shhh…" Troy shushed her and stepped closer as he lifted her head. "You owe me nothing," he whispered.

And then he kissed her.

It was a kiss filled with longing, want, and need. It was a kiss as deep as the ocean, and as intensely passionate as the fires of hell, but brought her straight to the highest heavens.

It was a damn good kiss.

* * *

TBC!

_(Author's Note: I got to admit, it's not exactly my favorite episode. First because there's almost no Veronica/Logan moment, second, because Logan acts like a total jerk most of the time and unreasonably so and third, because I thought that the guys were a bit unstable in that, doing things that just don't seem very in character, but hey, who I am to judge. It had it's moments though, and those I loved to rewrite in my way. Hope you enjoyed what I interpreted and added to this chapter. Please, hit me with your thoughts. Next one will be The Wrath Of Con… Now that's an episode I'm looking forward to! And last but not least: A BIG thank you to Mel who offered to beta this baby and has done a wonderful job so far!)_


	4. Of memorial videos and homecoming

**Chapter 4: Of Memorial Videos And Homecoming**

**(The Wrath Of Con) **

"Kicking off the homecoming festivities, the dedication of the Lilly Kane Memorial Fountain."

Sharply, Logan looked up, not being able to help the slight frown appearing between his eyes. The Lilly Kane Memorial Fountain? What…

The speaker continued. "The Kane family would like to invite all students and faculty to attend the tribute and celebrate the memory of one of Neptune High's most beloved students."

They did? This was news to him. Why hadn't Duncan ever mentioned that? Out of the corner of the eyes, he saw a movement, and glancing over, he saw Veronica gazing at the small screen, her expression as perplexed and caught off guard as Logan felt himself. She turned her head and their eyes met.

And for the tiniest moment, time stood still, vanished and all that was left were two people who once were friends and now both missed the girl they had loved and lost. Then though, Logan remembered. Veronica's betrayal. Veronica turning her back against Duncan, the Kane family, Logan. Veronica spitting back biting comments. Veronica, his enemy.

He looked down, his hands fisting to balls. No.

_No!_

He wouldn't make the same mistake twice. Wouldn't let himself feel anything for Veronica other than hate. So they both missed Lilly – so what? Didn't mean that he would just forget all that had happened afterwards.

And if he knew this new Veronica at all, then this was a mutual feeling.

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God, was she glad that the class was finally over! For one, the news about the memorial service for Lilly had pretty much thrown her. She wasn't sure why she was so surprised. It definitely looked like Celeste to organize such a thing. Still… it had caught her totally off guard. That was probably also why her gaze had been drawn to look over at Logan, as if…

Yeah. What exactly? As if they still were friends? As if that last year hadn't happened? Ridiculous. It had happened. No doubt whatsoever about that. So why had she looked over to him? Okay, so of all people in that room, he had been the only one who would be as affected by this news as she had been. Because Logan had loved Lilly as much as Veronica had. So perhaps it had been only natural that she had looked at him? And that he had looked back, at least for a moment? Before he had looked away, turning against her once again.

And it had hurt. Damn. It shouldn't hurt anymore. She shouldn't care anymore about the fact that Logan so obviously hated her. Still… To be turned away like that, dismissed like that, ignored like that, and all that with just a simple gesture as looking away… it had hurt.

She was lost so much in her thoughts that she didn't notice her boyfriend falling into steps with her until he spoke up, cheerful as ever. "You and me, Thursday night, I'm thinking mini-golf. It's what all the kids are doing." Veronica was more than glad to think about something else than Lilly or Logan, but seriously: mini-golf? But hey, perhaps that would smooth the meeting between her father and her boyfriend? She made a grimace. Yeah, right.

"But you don't golf," Troy said with a sigh.

She met his eyes. Oh hell, better get it over with. "My dad wants to meet you," she admitted reluctantly.

She had expected a groan or even a straight out refusal. After all, they weren't dating for long and she was well aware that it was a bit early to already do the 'meet the parents' dance. What she definitely didn't expect was Troy's unfazed answer. "That's cool."

He was what? Why wasn't he running away, screaming? That would be the reaction of most guys she knew and honestly, she couldn't blame them. Her dad _did_ own a gun, after all. Several. Confused, she turned to her locker and busied herself with dialing the combination of the lock.

"I'll pick you up at the door. I mean I can't do the beep and wipe nut that's no problem," Troy continued in his usual confident way.

Then again, Troy had never met her dad. And he was new in town, wasn't as aware of her father's reputation as the other boys at Neptune High. Right. Which meant that she should probably warn him. "My dad's a little intense," she said carefully, looking at Troy.

Still, Troy didn't seem worried at all. Instead, he just smiled. "Don't worry. I give good parent," he assured her and before she could say anything else, he leaned down to kiss her. Giving up, she gave him a weak smile and grabbed her books. She had tried to warn him, more couldn't be expected of her.

He backed away from her, smiling. "And just so I can make the appropriate arrangements: Homecoming is a go, right?" Troy asked, turning back to her, and she could hear a slight uncertainness in his voice.

Her heart clenching in sudden pain, Veronica forced herself to give a strained smile and she nodded. "Yeah, yeah, it'll be fun," she answered, hoping that it didn't sound as insincere as she felt it was.

Apparently, Troy bought it as his face broke out into a big grin and, with a stroke of her arm, headed away. As soon as he was away, Veronica lost the smile and pressed the books closer to her, trying to fight off the memories of the last year that bombarded her – with no avail. Once again, she remembered how Duncan had shown up at her doorstep to come fetch her for the big dance, his appreciating smile as his eyes wandered over her body. Or later, when they had waited at the Kane residence for Lilly to show up, Duncan loosing his patience while Veronica and Logan had taken it more pragmatically. And the obligatory photo shooting, four young people, dressed up, high on anticipation and mischief because of their little plan to deceive the parents, laughing, careless, happy.

Having no idea of the tragedy that would strike them in only a few weeks, changing all their lives. Changing the friendship that bounded them. Changing them, basically.

God, how she missed Lilly. Her loss was always a dump pain in the background of her conscience, but since all the homecoming hysteria had started, the pain had once again came forward, overwhelming her time and time again. Here she was, having a great boyfriend, a wonderful new friend, some of her life under control again and looking forward to the big dance and yet, she couldn't enjoy it. All she could think about was last year's homecoming, when her life had still been in order, and that Lilly, her wonderful, life-loving best friend wouldn't be able to go at this year's homecoming as she couldn't attend any other parties or dances anymore.

It just wasn't fair!

And worst of all: she hadn't even the solace of knowing that the bastard that had done this to Lilly was at least rotting away in the death tract of a prison like Logan and Duncan had. Because she knew that Abel Koontz probably hadn't killed her. Knew that her killer was still free. Perhaps, right at this moment, looking forward to homecoming as well. Or perhaps having a son or daughter who attended the dance. Or perhaps just enjoying life otherwise.

While Lilly…

Her hands gripped her books tighter, the knuckles standing out. No. She couldn't loose herself in her rage. This would solve nothing, nothing at all. She had to think rationally. Or she would never be able to find out who really had hurt Lilly, murdered her. She wasn't sure yet how to do that, but she would find a way. That was the least she owned Lilly.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Veronica Mars," Wallace said, walking up to her and it was obvious that he was very happy at the moment. He was actually bopping. "I've talked to that girl more today than I have in the past four months combined," he announced, grinning big.

For now though, Wallace's girl needed help. Right. She should start working on that. That at least she knew how to start on. So Veronica pushed her solemn thoughts away and smiled back at Wallace.

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Spotting Duncan, Logan quickly headed over to him. He wanted to know why his best friend had never found it necessary to give him a heads up that his family was planning a memorial service for Lilly and so had let Logan hear it over the television, catching him totally off guard. He wasn't just anyone after all. He had been her boyfriend, Duncan's best friend, he had a right to know about it, to be warned!

But when he approached Duncan, he saw him holding a bunch of videotapes in his arms and most of all, he saw his expression, full of resentment, full of something else.

"What are you doing?" he asked, instead of ripping Duncan's head off.

Duncan glanced at him before he stared down at the tapes. "Ah… My mother thought it would be nice to have a video tribute of Lilly for the dedication ceremony," he answered, clearly uncomfortable.

"What?" Logan asked incredulous. "She wanted you to do it?" He knew Celeste hadn't much of a heart, but really, what had she been thinking? Didn't she know just how much that must pain Duncan to do it?

"No, my dad did," Duncan corrected, tonelessly, and shrugged helplessly. "He wanted someone who knew her."

Wasn't it significant that Jake Kane, software mogul, still asked his son to do it, and not just did it himself? But then, while Jake Kane had definitely been closer to Lilly than Celeste had been, he still hadn't known her. Not really. Only few people had that privilege. So perhaps it made sense that Lilly's father had asked Duncan – if one ignored his obvious reluctance to make this damn video.

For a moment longer, Logan hesitated, but then he gave into his instinct. "Do you want me to do it, man? You know I'm awesome at this stuff," he asked, gently. When he saw Duncan still hesitating, he gave a weak smile. "Come on, let me do it. I wanna do it," he said, with more determination.

And strangely, in a way, he really wanted to do it. Perhaps, he could make sure then that this video really showed the true Lilly and not the perfect little angel Lilly Celeste probably wanted in this video. And yeah, it would be hard, very hard – but it would still be easier for him to do it than for Duncan.

Finally, Duncan nodded and handed over the tapes. "Thanks man," he said sincerely.

Logan brushed it off. "Yeah," he said and looked down at the tapes in his hands. "Well, I should probably put them into my locker before I head for my sports class," he added after a moment, turning away.

"Hey Logan?" Duncan stopped him though.

Logan looked back, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry," Duncan said quietly and looked down at his feet. "I should probably have mentioned this thing to you earlier on, but…" He didn't continue. Didn't need to.

"No problem, man," Logan answered quietly, meaning every word, then turned once and for all to head over to his locker to put the tapes away for the time being.

He wasn't sure if he was going to view the tapes still that day. He should, no doubt there. There was only little time left until the memorial service after all. But still… This was Lilly. His Lilly. He didn't think that he was ready yet to watch tapes of her, showing just how alive and wonderful she had been. Reminding him of just how much he missed her, his little blond devilish girl.

No… he would give himself a little time to prepare. He could work out a concept already and then see just what sequences he wanted from the tapes. And he'd need to select music for the tape as well. Lilly had loved music, there was no way that he wouldn't add music to the video.

And tomorrow, he would brace himself and watch those damn tapes.

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Like usual, it was loud in the boy's locker room after their sports class. Still high on the football game they had played for the last half an hour, the boys sang, joked and made dirty comments. And also like usual at this time of the year, a lot of the talk was about the coming homecoming dance.

Which was also the reason why Logan was uncharacteristically quiet today. He just wasn't in the mood to talk about homecoming. Hell, he wasn't even sure if he wanted to go. Somehow, it seemed wrong. After all, what could it be else than a shallow copy of last year's homecoming? Their limo-party, now that had been one hell of a party. Simply perfect. So why even bothering to try to go and have fun? Probably, he would just drink himself to oblivion and that he could very well do at home as well, without having to wear a mask all the time. Not to mention that he really, really didn't want to go and ask some random girl to go with him. And homecoming was definitely one of the events where you didn't show up without a date. The only girl he would want with him was Lilly and now, that definitely was a thing of impossibility.

He sighed as he rubbed his hair dry. If this week was only just over already! But no such luck. It had only just begun and he still had to make a video of Lilly for her memorial service and had to get through another week of homecoming hysteria.

Fuck.

"Yo, Vandegraff! What are you smiling so smugly there?" Dick called out. "You finally got lucky last night?"

"None of your business," Troy gave back, good-naturedly.

But there was definitely a smug undertone in his voice, Logan thought and looked up, glancing over at the other guy. Yep, he was smiling smugly all right. So perhaps, Dick had been right after all and Troy had gotten something recently. Then again, Logan didn't really want to know more about that. The idiot was going out with Veronica after all, officially. And hard to overlook, the way the guy was all over the tiny blond one, seemingly all the time. Logan had tried to ignore them – without much success.

"In other words, no," Dick said knowingly and shook his head. "Really, Vandegraff, what the hell takes you so long? That scant has done half of the male population at this school, if not more and you still couldn't talk her into giving you something? Dude, what's wrong with you?"

Troy said nothing and just dried himself. This was his standard reaction to every time, someone made a similar comment about Veronica. Nothing. Ignorance. And to be honest, this lack of a reaction irritated Logan a bit. He sure was no fan of Veronica, but she was Troy's girl, wasn't she? So why did her boyfriend never defend her, not once? Back when Ronnie still had been Duncan's girlfriend, no one would have dared to talk about her like that in Duncan's presence. Hell, not even in Logan's. And if some idiot would have said something wrong anyway, he sure had paid for the comment, Duncan and Logan making sure of that. But Troy – he did nothing, said nothing. Just took it. What kind of a boyfriend was that?

"Well, perhaps you're not man enough to take her, after all," Dick continued his haunting and even Logan winced a little at the insult in his words. After all, it was widely known that it didn't take much of a man to get Veronica laid.

If that rumor was true was another thing altogether, all that counted right now was what people talked.

And apparently, the insult worked as this time, Troy actually turned to glare at Dick out of cold eyes. "The bigger your mouth, the smaller your dick, _Dick_, I would remember that," he said friendly. Too friendly. Some of the other boys snickered while Dick frowned. Others again, mostly Dick's friends, watched him warily. This could fast escalate. But then, Troy smiled and the air relaxed. "Besides, I'll let you know that all gears has been set into motion to give my girl a night full of pleasure."

Indeed?

For a moment, Dick still seemed unsure to let Troy's earlier comment go. Then though, he relaxed and smirked. "Oh yeah? And how does that plan look like? You taking her to the car cinema for a quick romp in the back? Dude, why go to all that trouble?"

Slipping into his clothes, Troy didn't look at Dick as he answered. "I prefer to show more class than that, especially when it's about my girlfriend. But then, I doubt you'll understand that, right Dicky?"

Before Dick could reply something, Luke laughed. "Classy it sure is. Four Seasons, huh?"

Troy gave him a look and Luke just shrugged. "I heard you booking the room." He grinned. "A top floor suite, wasn't it? Complete with a fruit basked and a bottle of champagne."

Troy laughed and shrugged. "So what? That just shows that I obviously have more class than either of you. My girl will like it and that's all that counts," he said, his smile leery and smug.

Logan frowned. "You booked a room for you and Ronnie?" He heard himself asking.

"Yeah, I did," Troy answered, looking over to him. "Why?" he asked, his eyes fixing on Logan's.

With a shrug, Logan shook his head. "Nothing…" he replied, angry with himself to have said something at all. This wasn't his business anymore. Still… "I just wouldn't count too much on you being able to actually bring her there," Logan said quietly, finishing dressing himself.

"And why not?" Troy asked, his eyes still fixed on Logan.

'What the hell was he doing?' Logan thought as he put his things away. He had no idea. But in the end, he did turn back to face Troy, meeting his searching gaze. "Several reasons. But most of all, her dad."

"Her dad?" Troy asked perplexed.

For a moment, Logan just looked at him. Then he smiled. "You've never met Ronnie's dad, haven't you?"

Slowly, Troy shook his head. "No. I'll meet him Thursday though. But…"

Logan smiled and shook his head. "Let's just say as much: Keith Mars may not be the sheriff anymore – but he sure is not less scary. If at all, I think he's even more dangerous now than before," he said, truthfully. "And if you haven't been very, very, _very_ smart and sneaky, you won't even get close to the Four Seasons, at least not with Ronnie in tow," he prophesized and damn if Logan found that prospect not a hell of satisfying. He could see that Troy was about to protest or something, but he just brushed it off. "You'll understand once you've met him," he simply said and then headed out of the locker room, chuckling a bit.

God, he'd really like to see that meeting between Troy and Mr Mars. It sure promised to finally get that constant grin off Troy's face. And there was no way in hell that Troy would manage to get Ronnie to that room in the Four Seasons. Mr Mars would make sure of that. Plus, he wasn't so sure if Ronnie would play along at all. This didn't seem like her, at least not like the girl he had known. Though why the thought of Troy not getting his night with Ronnie satisfied Logan so much was beyond him. He just knew that it did, and for right now, this was good enough for him.

What bothered him more was the news that Veronica would attend the dance. Somehow, he had been sure that she wouldn't go. Not just because of her reputation at school but… how could she simply go, after last year's homecoming? One could say a lot about Veronica but she had loved Lilly, that was at least something Logan knew without doubt. Then how could she dare to simply go to that dance as if everything was all right and not so very, very wrong?

Damn her!

She wasn't supposed to move on, to get over it! Especially not barely a year after Lilly's death. And sure as hell not before _him_!

His eyes spotted a tall redhead that had tried for a while now to get Logan to go out with her. Before he really realized what he was doing he walked up to her, ignoring her friends' wide eyes and smiled at the girl. What was her name again? No idea. Didn't matter.

"You don't happen to still be free for homecoming, are you?" he asked, letting his voice dip a little as his eyes slowly slid over her, and then he smiled.

He didn't need to say anything more.

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With a smile, Veronica watched Wallace go talk to Georgia. Yeah, he really had it bad for that girl. But then, Georgia seemed to be a nice girl, if perhaps a bit too trusting. Because really, who in his right mind could believe such a lame story as Georgia had fallen for? And then even give that much money to a complete stranger, just because he asked, claiming to be in a clinch but to pay it back, doubled, as soon as his trust fund was available for him? Right, a very naïve one. Then again, Veronica had to give it those two cyber freaks behind all this that they really had build up quite an organization with their pretended reality game that got them the money. The question was just for what they'd need all that money. She knew that the answer was hidden in that high security dorm of them. Why else would they have secured it like that, with even an alarm going to their cell phones as soon as the system had been breached?

Well, she would find it out eventually. And she would see to it that Georgia got her money back, preferably before homecoming so Wallace and her could really enjoy the dance. Something Veronica could probably forget about, as much as she tried to look forward to it. Hell, she hadn't even picked out a dress yet, the pure thought about it making her heart ache. After last year, she had promised Lilly that this year, they would go dress hunting together and that, as long as Lilly remained reasonably, she would let Lilly pick out a dress for her, one that suited her well. But that was impossible now, with Lilly being dead. So how was she supposed to go look for a dress when really, it was slowly killing her inside?

But it wasn't just that. The nearer homecoming and the memorial service came, the more Veronica found herself drifting off, thinking about the time before Lilly's death, especially last year's homecoming. She hadn't allowed herself to remember Lilly much this past year. It was only recently that she let herself remember more. Even forced herself to remember more.

Lilly was dead for a year now, and sometimes, it seemed so much longer, like a lifetime. And Veronica feared that her memories of her best friend were fading if she wasn't careful. She hadn't remembered the truth and dare game they had played in the limo for example, not in a long while. And quite unexpected, after all it had revealed that Logan, _Logan_, had found her hot the first time he had seen her. She hadn't been sure how much she could believe his words, but she had been flattered. And up until then she had also known that Logan was basically an honest guy – to the persons he wanted to and then, she had been one of those persons. And even more unbelievable was that she had been able to forget the kiss Lilly had given her to tease Logan. She sure had been surprised when Lilly had suddenly pressed her lips onto hers. And it hadn't felt as weird as Veronica would have thought it would. Still not something she would want to repeat, but it hadn't been that bad. And Logan and Duncan's expression had simply been priceless.

Logan and Duncan.

She sighed deeply. All those memories were bittersweet. On one side, she was thankful to remember more happy times for once, and not just that disastrous last day of Lilly or ominous remarks over the time. On the other though… God, it made her miss Lilly so much that it sometimes hurt breathing. And not just Lilly. Whenever she remembered times where the four of them had been having a great, fun time, it sent little daggers into her heart. She had lost Lilly to brute force of the worst kind, unexpected and final. But Logan and Duncan still lived – it was just that they were as good as dead to her. She had lost them as well, leaving her alone, with no one. And while it had come unexpected as well, it hadn't been a must like with Lilly. No, they had just decided that she had betrayed them for standing with her father and therefore made her to be the enemy, pushing her out of their lives, ignoring her, acting as if they never had been friends, as if her and Duncan never had been together.

It wasn't fair!

She didn't regret her decision to stand with her father, now even less than before, but she did regret that Logan and Duncan never had bothered to think how they would have acted in her place. It hurt so damn much that they had been able to ostracize her like they had, just like that. One day they had been friends, the other, enemies. She had expected more of her friend, of her ex-boyfriend – and had been disappointed bitterly.

But most, she hated the fact that even after everything that had happened, especially between her and Logan, that deep down, she still wanted them back. At least so much that they were talking again. That at times like these, she could simply go to them and let go, give herself to the pain and cry like she wanted to cry and knowing that they would understand, were the only ones who really could understand it.

Wallace was great, sure. But he hadn't known Lilly. Didn't know how it had been, before Lilly's death. Never had experienced a loss like they had with Lilly. Okay, his father was dead, but he had died long before his birth, that wasn't the same. He couldn't know how this overwhelming rage felt like, how much it hurt to not have Lilly around anymore, to have then lost even the last hold she had because of Logan and Duncan turning against her.

Allowing her to be raped.

Quickly, Veronica pushed that thought away. No, that wasn't fair. Logan may be a jackass, but if he had known what was going on, that one of his precious 09er buddies was raping her in another room, he would have stopped it, no question, enemies or not. Same with Duncan.

But if they hadn't pushed her away, turned their backs, then it would never have come to the rape in the first place. 'They would have looked out for you at that party, would have protected you', whispered a traitorous small voice inside Veronica, one she chose to ignore. It was probably true, but one could never know. Perhaps it had been her fate to get raped at that party, no matter how the circumstances were.

"Mom, if you don't put the camera down, I won't go out there!"

Her heart stopping, Veronica froze dead in her tracks, her breathing ragged. No, it wasn't possible. She was hearing things, hallucinating. No way had she just heard Lilly's voice out of a classroom.

But there it was again. She couldn't understand it, but it was definitely Lilly's voice. Her wonderful laughter. She would recognize this everywhere. And it _was_ coming out of that classroom!

What…

Slowly, Veronica turned and approached the classroom to peer inside, desperate to find out why she heard something in these hallways she hadn't expected to hear ever again. Lilly. Lilly's laughter.

And there she found her answer. A video.

Of course.

What else should it be?

Still… she felt part of her heart clench at the realization that it was just a video.

Why was some jerk playing this anyway? Didn't he know how much it would hurt those who really had loved Lilly? Her eyes moved to the person sitting in front of the computer monitor, ready to give him a piece of her mind, but then she recognizes just who it is.

Logan.

Her words died on her lips, just in time as he, probably having sensed someone else coming into the room, looked over to see who it was. For a second, their eyes met, then he turned back to his notes, dismissing her.

It was obvious that he didn't care much about her presence and probably wanted her out. And it hurt a little. But she'd be damned if she went away now. Her eyes were back on the screen, glued to it, as she drank in the sight of Lilly. It were old recordings, Lilly as a toddler, Lilly as a young girl, a teenager. But it was still Lilly. Lilly, smiling, laughing. A Lilly that lived.

She couldn't force herself to look away, didn't want to.

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He could feel that she was still there.

Damn.

He couldn't need her there. It was hard enough to go through these recordings as it was, the least he could need was Ronnie being there as well, her mere presence paining him even more than the constant pictures of Lilly did reminding her of what all he had lost. Why couldn't she just go? He would have thought that the glare he had thrown her way should have been enough for her to get the message.

But no, of course not. She had to be stubborn yet again. No, instead, she had come even further into the room.

Damn her.

Irritated, he looked back to her again. "What part of my ignoring you makes you think you're welcome?" he asked, coldly.

But she didn't even glance at him, her eyes glued to the screen in front of him. Glued to Lilly. And her face… there was shock in it, but also wonder. And a need and longing so naked, that Logan quickly looked down at his notes.

He felt her coming nearer. "What are you doing?" she asked softly.

For a moment, Logan contemplated to tell her to go to hell. But… he couldn't. If he liked it or not, her expression just now had shown more than clearly that this time, this wasn't about them, about what had happened. It was just about Lilly. The girl they both had loved. The girl they both missed so much.

Besides… Ronnie would understand. Out of all the people, she probably was the only one who would understand why this damn memorial video saddened him so much – and at the same time, made him so furious. And suddenly, talking with someone who would understand was more important than their war.

So, for a change, he simply told her the truth – what was really going on here. "Assembling the world's most boring memorial video," he answered with disgust and picked up some of the tapes, snorting in derision. "Ballet, choir recital, debutante crap, girl scout," he listed and sighed heavily. "Memories both misty and water-colored," he summarized with sad sarcasm and flung the tapes down onto the table with a jerk of his wrist.

"It's Lilly as a long-distance commercial," Veronica said quietly after a moment, simply.

See? He knew she would understand it. He stared at the picture of the younger version of the girl he had known and loved, this puppet that was so very not like his girl. "Well, it isn't really about Lilly, is it?" he asked knowingly and watched this shadow of Lilly sing in church, looking like a little angel. What a joke. He laughed, his heart clenching. "God, this would piss her off," he said certainly.

But Veronica didn't agree. In fact, she didn't reply at all. Frowning, he looked back up at her – and found her starring at the screen one again, this time though with a distant look on her face. He knew that look. Since he had started to view these damn tapes the day before he had gotten it himself a few times he guessed. She remembered something. He watched a small smile tugging at her lips and couldn't help but wonder just what she was thinking about.

Not that it mattered.

He looked back at Lilly, now performing some little ballet dance.

A minute went by, then another and Logan said nothing to rip Veronica out of her trance. All they had left of Lilly were their memories of her. He may not like Veronica anymore, but he wouldn't deny her at least this little solace.

Besides… he refused to acknowledge it, but her presence somehow soothed the ache in his heart that had been building up since he had started to work on this memorial video. Calmed him. It was an ability Veronica always had, that strange, unexplainable but comfortable effect she had on him. She would sit with him, or simply be in the same room, without saying anything but just be there and he would just start to relax. To breath more easily, to forget about the horrors that awaited him at home.

_(Flashback)_

'_Too bad the night couldn't last forever', Logan thought with a smile as he staggered over to the sheriff's car, Lilly's kiss still burning on his lips. Damn, his girl could kiss. Especially if she wanted to piss off her parents._

_He got into the back and slumped back into the old, worn seats, closing his eyes. He was so tired. Still, he didn't want to go home._

_Home to _him

_Rather unexpected, Logan's father had come home two days ago from a shooting that obviously hadn't gone well. His mood was foul and that meant that the slightest wrong noise or word could set him off. So far, Logan had been able to avoid his father's rage, but he doubted that that would be much longer the case. If the Kanes had called Veronica's dad, they sure as hell would have called his parents as well. That alone was bad enough. Him showing up after this night made through, drunk and escorted home by the sheriff would definitely be enough to skyrocket his father through the roof – and make the belt oh so much more vicious._

_Oh well… this night had been worth it. _

_The car dipped lightly and he opened his eyes, seeing that the sheriff had slipped into his seat, giving him a stern look via the rear mirror. He grinned. "Sheriff! Thanks for escorting me home. Boy, that saying about your friend and helper is really true after all, huh?" he quipped._

_The sheriff's eyes steeled. "I gotta admit, Logan, you boys tricked me fair and square. I never thought to check on the limo actually going to drop you off and then, hours later, pick you up again to drive you all home like it was supposed to be."_

_Logan beamed at that compliment. It had been hard enough to get past Ronnie's dad's watchful eyes after all. _

"_I won't make that mistake twice," Keith Mars warned him._

"_Sure thing, Sheriff Mars," Logan answered good naturedly. He looked out and saw Veronica turning to come join them, a smile on her face. And he noticed her dad watching her approach, looking anything else than content with his daughter. Logan frowned. "Ronnie had nothing to do with it, you know," he said, not wanting for her to get into trouble. "She didn't even know about it. She thought we were really going to the dance."_

_Well, not up until yesterday when Lilly had spilled it, but Ronnie's dad didn't need to know that. _

_Ronnie's dad glanced at him. "She still went along with it."_

_Logan chuckled. "You really think she had any chance against me and Lilly combined? Then you really don't know us at all, Sheriff."_

_Before the sheriff could answer, Veronica got into the car – in the behind, slipping beside Logan and her dad just started the car and drove out of the Kanes' driveway. As she usually rode up front Logan guessed she was a bit nervous about her father's reaction. Well, he could be scary. But he would never hurt her. That much Logan knew by now, though it had taken him a little time to get to be sure about that. _

_Or to learn that not all fathers tended to beat the fucking shit out of their sons._

_He sighed and closed his eyes, leaning his head against the headrest. It was too early in the morning and the booze was wearing off. Always a dangerous combination for him to grow a bit bitter. It didn't help either that they were fast heading over to his home and the punishment that would await him there. _

_Logan startled when suddenly, he felt Ronnie's head come to a rest on his shoulder. "You going to be in much trouble?" she whispered softly._

_For a moment worried that she had found out the truth, he opened his eyes to look at her. She was sleepy, that much was obvious, but he could see no trace of the pity he was sure would be in her eyes if she knew the truth. She was just concerned in her normal, sweet way. He smiled and couldn't resist to stroke over her arm in a calming matter. Their little worry nut, he thought affectionately. "Not more than usual," he told her honestly._

_She nodded and yawned, turning a bit more into him and her eyes fluttered close. "Good." She was quiet for a moment, then opened her eyes to gaze up at him. "Hey Logan?"_

_They were coming up to his driveway now, Logan realized with a glance outside and his heart sank down. "Hmm?"_

_When she said nothing, he looked back at her. Only then did she smile, the way she did, with her face and her eyes and basically her whole being lightening up. "Thank you. You really organized us one hell of a party," she thanked him softly, but sincere._

_His heart lightened up at that and when he finally stepped through his door to face what awaited him behind the doors, he was feeling quite good and strong. After all, his dad couldn't do anything to him he hadn't already done and he would survive it like he had survived the past sixteen years. _

_He remembered the night, Lilly's kiss and Ronnie's smile just now and grinned as he stepped up to his father, watching him coming home out of narrowed, angry slits._

_This time, it would be at least worth it for once._

_(End Flashback)_

Shaken by that particular and very unwelcome memory, Logan blinked and grinded his teeth together. Why for God's sake had he to remember this? A memory that made him miss the friend, Veronica had been to him once so much and at the same time reminded him just how different the girl standing beside him now was to that friend. A memory that made it that much more obvious just what all he had lost since then: the girl he had loved, the girl that had been his second best friend and the peace she had brought to him.

He would never admit it, but that was one of the things he missed most since everything had changed and he and Veronica had became enemies. This peace, this silent comfort she had always been able to give him. And it was one of the things that enraged him the most with her. Because through her betrayal, she had robbed him of that little escape he had had, so simple, but, as he had realized soon, so very, very important to him. Worse, she had taken this opportunity to have a little peace away from his cold home, his life, just when he would have needed it most.

No wonder he hated her now.

But… wasn't she here now? And wasn't she giving him unconsciously this peace of mind he had craved for so desperately ever since Lilly's death?

He felt her coming back, her presence suddenly doubling and tripling again. And with it, his head cleared a little as well.

Right.

She was still the enemy. The girl he had to hate to keep sane.

His eyes were still staring at the various recordings of Lilly.

The girl that had been a vital part of his life.

'And still was', a voice whispered, a voice he ignored.

It. Didn't. Matter.

Not anymore.

So he was relieved when she finally turned and walked away. Tiredly, he run his fingers over his face, but then got a grip on himself again. He could feel her eyes looking back at him once more from the door by the way the hair on his neck stood up. When her heavy gaze finally lifted and she left, he let out a deep sigh, glaring at the screen in front of it.

"Why had you to die, Lilly?" he whispered. "It messed everything up."

Of course, she didn't give him an answer.

She was dead after all.

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Veronica glanced worriedly at Troy. "Are you okay?"

Slowly, he looked at her out of dazed eyes. "Huh? Oh… yeah. Sure," he answered but it didn't really sound as if he was fine.

She sighed. Why had her dad to always scare her boyfriends like that? It had been the same with Duncan. After his first meeting with her dad, well, the first after they had gotten together, he had been super nervous for weeks. He had been more adamant to get her back before the curfew than Veronica. And she still had no idea what exactly her dad had told or did to Duncan. Nor had she an idea what he had said to Troy before she had gotten there that had shook him so much. But she recognized the signs, knew them only too well. She just hoped that Troy wouldn't turn to a scared worry-nut like Duncan had been one, at least for the first few weeks.

"You know, Dad's not really so bad," she tried to assure Troy.

Troy lifted an eyebrow, unbelieving.

"Really. He's actually pretty cool." Seeing that that didn't convince Troy either, she changed tactics. "He has yet to kill one of my boyfriends," she joked.

Troy shook his head. "Sorry, but that's not really very reassuring," he muttered darkly.

Sighing again, Veronica stepped in front of him and put her arms around him. "Yeah well, then I guess I'll just have to remind you why you just survived two hours of minigolf with the self proclaimed king of minigolf, also known to impose as my dad," she whispered and then gave Troy a deep kiss.

It took a few seconds, but then she felt his arms slipping around her and pulling her closer to him as he deepened the kiss. "I start to dimly remember it," he whispered back as they parted.

She smiled up at him. "So… does that mean that we're still going to homecoming together?"

Troy laughed and leaned in to kiss her again. "Damn sure we will. It takes more than a very scary dad to scare me off," he told her, part of his confidence coming back.

The light shining through the door flickered once and contrary to his words, Troy jumped back from Veronica. "Well, I guess I should better go now. I'll call you?" he asked, glancing nervously at her door.

Knowing better than even trying to change his mind, Veronica simply nodded and turned to head inside. Once there, she looked at her father and raised an eyebrow in annoyance. "Couldn't you just have lay off him a bit?"

The face her father made was pure innocence. "Whatever do you mean, Veronica?"

She just kept looking at him. Smiling, Keith came over to her and kissed the top of her head. "Good night, sweetie," he said and then vanished into his bedroom without another word.

Shaking her head, Veronica proceeded to her own room, closing the door behind her. She really knew that her dad was only scaring off her boyfriends because he loved her, but it was really quite a nuisance sometimes. Yet, she couldn't be really angry with him. After all it looked as if he may have shaken Troy a bit, but hadn't managed to scare him off completely. And with time, Troy would relax again, just like Duncan had.

She put her bag down on the floor beside her desk and her eyes fell on the picture she had spotted already the night before, the one of Lilly, Logan, Duncan and her just before they had gone to the 'homecoming dance'. Boy, they did have fun that night, the four of them, just as Lilly had prophesized. A fun they would all remember for the rest of their lives.

Veronica sighed and stroked over the picture, took in the happy, laughing faces of all of them. She hadn't seen Logan or Duncan happy or laughing like that ever since Lilly's death. Nor had she felt that happy, or had laughed like that ever since then. But then, wasn't that normal, after a loss like that? It was barely a year after all, surely it was normal that her loss still hurt so much, left her that raw, wasn't it?

The case was still on people minds after all. Surely not foremost like with her, but it was still there and Lilly surely wasn't forgotten so far.

With a laugh, Veronica shook her head and moved over to flap down on her bed. Lilly would love to know that. Boy would she be angry if the contrary were the case. Not that she would have needed to worry about that. Lilly had made sure that she became unforgettable to the people that had the luck to have known her.

She had no doubt that there would be a lot of people to attended the memorial service, just like Lilly would have wanted it. It didn't matter if they had really loved or known her – it just mattered that there were people and many of them. But… If Lilly loved one thing, then a really good show. Or to piss off her parents, especially her mother. If there was the possibility to do both at the same time, the better.

Oh, Veronica had no doubt that Celeste Kane would produce a wonderful touching service – just not one that was anything like Lilly. Like that memorial video. Logan really had a talent to make such videos or presentations and she knew that he would make this video the best he could. But how could he cut together a video that represented Lilly in the best way with the crap recordings he had been handed to work with? He was good, but not that good.

And he knew it and it pissed him off as much as he hated it. As much she had been able to see in the short moment they had been together. She couldn't blame him. For once, they were on the same page.

This sucked.

Her eyes drifted over to her desk, thought about the picture laying there. It was one of the copies of the pictures Celeste had shot that evening. Veronica had never bothered to make pictures out of the video she had…

With a start, Veronica shot up. But of course! How stupid had she been! The videotape of last year's homecoming! Quickly, she got up and moved to her cupboard where she had stashed her tapes in a box. The whole night, Veronica had recorded things. Them playing some silly games like the 'I've never'-game. The four of them fooling around. Logan and Lilly making out. Lilly singing and dancing. The boys engaging in a mock fight. Sometimes, she had handed the camera to Logan so he could record them as well, making sure that all four of them would be on the tape. They hadn't stopped until the battery of the camera had died down. It showed how happy and careless they had been. The fun they had had, unforgettable. But most of all, it showed Lilly as she had lived and breathed.

It would be perfect for the memorial video. And just what Lilly would have wanted.

Because if Logan used it, Celeste would be pissed as hell, while the rest of the world would get something that showed how Lilly really had been, not that little angel crap Celeste wanted to see.

Finding the tape, Veronica held it up, cradled it in her hands and slowly stroked over it.

But would Logan use it, accept the tape? From her, meaning that he would actually accept her help?

Yes.

She wasn't sure why she was so certain about that, but she had no doubts that Logan would take it and, with its help, make one hell of a memorial video. Perhaps it was because he had listened to her, at least partly, during the whole Chardo and Caitlin history. Or perhaps it was the anger and sadness she had sensed in him earlier. Or the fact that, at least for a little moment, they had seized to be enemies and just had grieved together for the girl they had lost. It had surprised her that Logan had, after his initial coldness and rejection, actually given her a real answer to her question. Then though she had understood. This hadn't been about them, but about Lilly. And she had probably been the only one who could understand why this video frustrated him so much.

Oh yeah, he would definitely want this tape.

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"And you're really sure that you don't want to come to the dance?" Logan asked, frowning.

Duncan nodded without looking up. "Yeah, definitely."

"You'll miss a blast," Logan protested.

With a shrug, Duncan leaned back and looked at Logan. "I'm sure it will be, but there will be other parties. I don't have a date and I really am not in the mood to go to homecoming."

"Look, if it's just because of the date, that's not really a problem. Just do it like me and go pick out one…"

Duncan interrupted Logan before he could continue. "Sorry man, but I prefer to know my ladies a little better than that, especially if I take them out to an event like the homecoming dance. I won't go and that's it. So let it be, okay?"

Sighing, Logan held up his hands. "Okay man."

It was obvious that this time, Logan wouldn't be able to change his friend's mind. Damn. And he had really hoped that Duncan would decide to come as well. He was uneasy enough about the upcoming dance and would have liked to have at least his best friend there. On the other hand… perhaps it would make the whole thing easier if Duncan wasn't there. This way, he may not be reminded of the last year constantly. Different settings, different girl and most people starring in last year's 'dance' not participating.

Yeah, perhaps. He doubted it very much, but who knew?

With a groan, Troy plopped down in front of them and let out a deep sigh, looking more than just a bit disgruntled.

Logan and Duncan exchanged a look.

"Something wrong?" Duncan asked, raising an eyebrow.

Troy's expression darkened. "That man is crazy!" he whined.

While Duncan remained clueless, Logan, well remembering their conversations in the locker room of a few days ago, had an idea who Troy meant. He grinned. "You can't say I didn't warn you, T," he told the other boy with not just a little smug.

Troy glared at him. "I've met a few dads and know how to take them, thank you very much. But that man is simply mad. Nuts. Completely gone!"

"Uh, who exactly are you talking about?" Duncan interrupted them, looking from one to the other.

Logan didn't answer. Not his place.

"Veronica's dad," Troy though already answered.

Duncan's face closed off a bit as he took in this news. "Oh… so you've met him?"

"Last night. Veronica was too late. She left me alone with that madman for whole ten minutes and I tell you that were the worst ten minutes of my life and I had a few bad times in life," Troy told them.

"He can be a little – intense," murmured Duncan, looking down.

Logan snorted. That was one way to word it.

_(Flashback)_

_Logan stared at Duncan as he slowly came inside, a dazed look on his pale face. "Dude, what happened to you?" he asked, frowning._

"_Yeah, you look as if you have seen a ghost," Lilly agreed, grinning._

_In slow motion, Duncan moved his head to stare at the couple on the couch. He opened his mouth but no tone came out. Finally, he just shook his head and collapsed onto the next chair, staring at the ceiling._

_His frown deepening, Logan entangled himself from his girlfriend and sat up. "Duncan?"_

_For a while, Duncan said nothing. But then, just as Logan wanted to say something else, he looked over to Logan. "I've had a little – chat with Sheriff Mars," he said tonelessly, but if Logan wasn't wrong, there was a trace of fear in it._

"_And that's all? You've seen and talked with Mr Mars hundred times before," Lilly said unimpressed._

_Logan though understood immediately. "_The_ talk?" he wanted to know._

_Duncan just nodded._

_Logan winced in sympathy. "How bad was it?" _

"_A gun."_

"_What?" Lilly exclaimed, her eyes widening as she looked from her brother to her boyfriend. _

_Duncan's eyes stared at Logan and he could see the white in them. "A shotgun. A big, shiny shotgun," Duncan said weakly. "He was cleaning the shotgun while he laid the rules down on the table and all I could do was stare at the fucking shotgun, gulping and nodding like a stupid idiot."_

_Boy was Logan glad that Jake Kane wasn't such a maniac like Ronnie's father. All he had gotten was a short, but stern talk that had warned Logan to respect Lilly and better not to hurt her, but that had it been about it. No guns, no death threats. Yep, definitely a lot better._

"_I'm sorry man," he said. "But then, you knew it was coming."_

"_Sure, I expected the talk. But I didn't expect the shotgun. And you should have seen his eyes! Ice-cold steel." Duncan shook himself. "I had sometimes wondered why the criminals seemed to have so much respect for Sheriff Mars. Or even feared him." He shook his head. "Not anymore."_

_  
"Oh come on, how bad can it have been?" Lilly asked, rolling her eyes. "You had 'the daddy warns off boyfriend of his little girl'-talk, so what? Just be glad it's over. At least now you can really enjoy your time with Veronica."_

_Duncan stared incredulous at his sister, opened his mouth but then sighed and shook his head. He looked over to Logan._

_Logan simply shrugged. Girls. They just didn't get it._

_(End Flashback)_

"What did he do?" Logan asked curiously.

"Oh, at first he seemed nice enough. Then though…" Troy shook his head. "Suddenly he started to ask these strange questions and then suddenly something like 'So you won't mind then that I cancelled your reservation at the Four Seasons?'. God! How did he even get wind of that? I all but froze."

Logan waited. When Troy didn't continue, he arched an eyebrow. "And that's all?"

"Veronica finally came home then," Troy answered and let out a deep sigh. "Just at the right time. I wouldn't want to know what would have come next!"

Laughing, Logan stood up. "Dude, you have no idea how easy you got off there." He glanced at Duncan. "Right?"

Duncan gave a short, reluctant nod.

Picking up his bag, Logan smirked at Troy. "Ask Duncan sometime how _his_ talk with Daddy Mars had gone by. Guys."

Still laughing, Logan moved away from the table towards the main building. He found it very interesting that Ronnie's dad hadn't found it necessary to get out his guns in order to scare off Troy. And he bet that that had something to do with the fact that Keith Mars didn't saw much future for Troy and Veronica. Otherwise he would have at least gotten out his revolver or something like that, just like with Duncan. Yep, that little fact was really very interesting.

Plus, it looked as if Logan had been right with Troy's chances to close the deal with Veronica.

He had known that there was no way in hell that Mr Mars wouldn't find out about Troy's reservation of a hotel room. After all, Mr Mars' ever watchful eyes had been one of the reasons why Logan and Duncan had come up with the idea of the limo party for last year's homecoming. They had wanted to spend a little extra time with their girls. And perhaps even for Duncan to have finally the opportunity to loose his virginity. But they had known that it was useless to book a room in some hotel. Ronnie's dad would have found out and taken care of that, just like he had now done it with Troy's reservation. Besides, the little private parties were so common and if at least Lilly and Logan were something not, then common. So they had searched for something else and settled on making a limo-party.

And had had the night of nights.

With a sigh, Logan moved to the newsroom. He still needed to work on Lilly's memorial video as much as it disgusted him to do that. He had made his selection in the meantime, had picked out the music and the sequence was set as well. Now he just needed to cut everything together.

Et voilà, the world's most boring and unfitting memorial video would be finished.

And Logan felt like crap over it.

Lilly would never forgive him that one.

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Logan froze the tape and stared at a six years old Lilly. God, he wouldn't be surprised if Lilly started to haunt him as revenge for this memorial video of her. It had as much in common with her as a shark with a sparrow.

But Celeste would definitely be in Heaven over it.

Ugh.

"How's it going?"

Briefly, Logan glanced at Veronica, coming further into the room, out of the corner of his eyes. "It's very 'Wonder Years'," he answered shortly, sarcastically. "Celeste will love it," he added bitterly.

"So…" Veronica said after a moment and surprised him by sitting down on the chair next to Logan. "I was going through some of my stuff and I found this," she told him and held out a small mini-cassette that she had pulled out of her bag.

Frowning, Logan looked at it and slowly took it. _'Fun with Lilly'_ stood on it.

"What is it?" he wanted to know, though he had a suspicion.

"It's not a violin recital," she answered, smirking.

His heart clenched and he looked at the cassette in his hand. Slowly, he stroked with his thumb over Veronica's marking. Just what he had thought. He looked back at Veronica and their eyes met, a moment of complete understanding enfolding between them. But the longer he held her green eyes, the more he felt himself grow uncomfortable so he quickly broke their eye contact to look back at the screen, blindly. What the hell was going on here? He didn't know, but suddenly he wanted to be far, far away from Veronica.

He rubbed at his temple. "I've got a lot of work to do," he said dismissingly, hoping Veronica would get the clue.

She did. "Yeah, now, me too," she said quickly and stood up to leave.

Not able to help herself, Logan looked after her. Something was – off here. For a moment, he wanted to call her back. But for what? To thank her? There was no need for it. Besides, she hadn't done it for him but for Lilly. Then what else? Nothing. He forced himself to look back at the screen, remained silent.

When he glanced back to the door the next time, Veronica was gone. Letting out a relieved sigh, Logan looked once again at the screen in front of him. But it didn't take even a second before his eyes were drawn to the little white mini-cassette he had put beside him. Frowning, he stared at it.

Fun with Lilly.

That could mean anything. You mostly had fun if you had been together with Lilly. Unless she acted like a bitch which usually ended in a fight. So he had no idea just what was on this tape. All he knew was that whatever was on it, would be Lilly pure.

And that was the problem.

It had been hard enough to watch the Kane's version of memories of Lilly, as shallow as they had been. Had he the stomach to watch something that would show her as she really had been?

Well, he hadn't much choice, hadn't he? Besides, if Ronnie had been able to watch it, which he assumed, then he would be able to do it as well.

Slowly, he reached out to take the cassette once again into his hand. For a minute longer, he hesitated, but then he quickly took the tape out and put it into the player.

But as soon as the first image filled his screen, Logan recoiled back, pushed the chair away from the desk while he stared at the film slowly unfolding in front of him.

Oh God.

Oh God, oh God.

Of course.

It was perfect. The one evening that had been the best of their lives, when they had the most fun with each other one could imagine. 'The best dance ever', as Lilly had declared in the morning, driving up the Kanes' driveway and Logan could only agree.

No wonder Ronnie had picked out these special recordings to bring him for the memorial video.

It was just… he had totally forgotten that Veronica had brought her camera with her that evening, that this tape existed. How could he have? After all, part of the fun had been just that, performing for the camera while Veronica or him had recorded.

In front of his eyes, Lilly walked out of her bedroom in her dress, looking so damn sexy that it stole away Logan's breath, just like it had that night. Then the four of them stood together for the famous pictures before you go out to the dance, all of them laughing, so happy, so glowing with youth and life.

His throat closed off and, not able to bear to watch it any longer, he leaned forward, burying his head into his hands while he tried to take deep breathes in order to get a grip on himself. He couldn't loose it, not here, not now.

But God, he missed Lilly so much. And not just Lilly. He missed his best friend, as he had been before Lilly's death, so careless, so much more laughing. And damn it to hell, he missed his Ronnie. The girl that had been the calm rock in their group, the girl that had always pushed everything aside if you needed her to listen to you. The one girl where her mere presence managed to sooth him. And he missed the four of them together, the small family they had built together.

But that family didn't exist anymore, ripped apart by the death of Lilly. And that careless best friend of him didn't exist anymore, forever marked by the death of his big sister. Nor did that girl he had liked so much exist anymore. She had vanished the moment she had turned away from them all, betraying them, stabbing them all into the back.

Nor was he the same anymore. He too had changed, had grown bitter, had lost the ground under his feet.

"Hello America! You wanted Lilly. You got her. Now sit back and enjoy the ride."

Upon hearing this, Logan slowly looked up again. He could see as Lilly opened the first bottle of champagne of that long night and slowly, an idea formed in his head. His heart my scream and bleed by watching these memories… but Veronica was right. This tape showed Lilly like she had been more than anything else he had watched in the last few days. And she deserved to have her remembered right and true to her. Beside, it would piss off Celeste and Lilly had always been happy to do that.

Oh yeah, Celeste was going to kill him… but he'd be damned if he wouldn't make Lilly the best memorial video ever.

For now though, he needed to watch this.

Taking a deep breath, Logan leaned back and crossed his arms tightly over his chest while he watched the ride.

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Georgia had her money back, Wallace had the girl, Grant and Liam would have to answer a few questions to the FBI and she had found this afternoon the perfect dress for the dance. So everything was good and right again.

If this were a TV show.

But it wasn't. This was real life and there her best friend was still dead, the guy who had murdered her probably still running around free, her mother had still abandoned them, she still had been raped without her having the slightest idea who had done it and her old friends still hated her. And, she still had to go to the memorial service.

With a deep sigh, Veronica grabbed her bag and got out of her car. Slowly, she walked over the parking lot to the place where the Kane family had wanted to hold the ceremony. When she approached it she could see that there was already a whole bunch of people gathered. She stayed in the background and let her eyes wander over the people who had come here to honor Lilly and her life. Just like she had expected there were only a handful of people who had really been friends with Lilly. Not as close as Veronica had been, but still close. There was Meg, sweet, innocent Meg, who liked everyone and was genuinely liked back. One or two other girls from Lilly's year with whom she had had a lot of fun. The girl that had tutored Lilly. But most of the people gathered around weren't here for Lilly. They were just here to make a good show, to be seen. They didn't care that Lilly was dead, it didn't overwhelm them time and time again that she was no longer with them.

Veronica hated that. But she knew Lilly would have just wanted it like that, so she decided to try to be happy for her.

The music band started to play, a slow, tragic melody, _'Wind Beneath My Wings',_ very humble and classic. Very Celeste.

Disgusted, Veronica took out her camera. Ms Dent had told her to make a few shots for the paper so she better started with it. She moved forward, taking a shot here and there. After a minute, she stopped and watched the Kanes for a moment. Celeste was listening to the music, smiling the perfect sad smile. Jake's face was expressionless, impossible for her to see what he may feel or think. And Duncan… his eyes were fixed onto the ground, his face dark. Looked like he wasn't enjoying the show much. But then, Duncan had never liked the public attendances of his family and she bet that he hadn't wanted this memorial service. Shaking her head, Veronica took a picture of them and continued her way forward through the crowd. A few steps later she let sink her camera down surprised as she spotted a very familiar face.

Wallace, his arm around Georgia, spotted her and his eyes met hers, shining soft and sympathetically. For a moment, her heart swelled with gratitude. Damn, he was a good friend. She knew without doubt that he had come here for her, to be here for her if necessary and she was immensely thankful to him for that. Smiling back, she turned away from him and went on with her way.

The band was finished and Celeste stood up to take the stage. While she rattled down a very well prepared speech that couldn't move anyone, Veronica continued to weave through the crowd.

Only a few steps further, the next surprise awaited Veronica. Troy. He looked at her and nodded, smiling seriously and again, her heart flattered with gratitude. She hadn't expected him here, despite him being her boyfriend, Duncan's friend and even having known Lilly a bit. This just didn't seem like him. The more she was happy that he was here now.

With a smile at him as well, she finally turned her attention to the scenery up front. The mourning family on a little stage with a big black and white poster of Lilly hanging behind them. A very good shot. It didn't show the wild side of Lilly, but there was that twinkle in her eyes, that mischief. Veronica doubted that it was Celeste that had picked it out. No, it looked more like one Duncan would have picked out. At the wall, there was the red curtain, draping the fountain she guessed. And there was the video screen for the memorial video, still black but for the white scripture on it.

_Lilly Kane, Always remembered._

Damn right she would be. Gulping, Veronica took a shot of it all. Only then did she finally search the crowd for another face she knew would be here tonight. It didn't take long to find him. There he stood in the front row directly beside the screen, his head bowed. But at that moment, Logan raised his head and their eyes met briefly. Not for long, as he quickly looked down again. But for once, there had been no heat, no hate in his eyes while he had looked at her and for that alone, she was thankful as well. Just for now she wanted to forget that they no longer were friends.

"And you, her peers will always be reminded what a generous, kind, sweet girl she was and how she embodied Pirate pride and the school motto, service, loyalty, honor," Celeste finished her speech and looked back at Duncan.

Anything else than enthusiastic, Duncan rose together with his father and then went over to the curtain where he pulled at the cord. The curtain fell and revealed one of these modern fountains put into a wall, looking like a painting. While he went back to stand beside his father, Celeste pressed a button and water started to trickle down. While the crowd clapped, Veronica shook her head. This was supposed to remember Lilly? Please! But dutifully, she took a picture of that as well. She caught Celeste nodding at Logan while she went over to her husband and son and quickly, Veronica put away her camera.

This she wanted to see with all her attention focused on it. If Logan had used her tape for the video, this would be the only thing in this service that would really remember Lilly as it was supposed to be. And she was sure that Logan had used it.

Logan started the video with a remote and sweet, soft music started to play while shots of a young Lilly filled the screen. Some of them she had seen when she had discovered Logan in the classroom working on the video, some were new. Lilly playing, Lilly riding, Lilly singing. It still were the rather impersonal recordings of Celeste, but somehow, Logan had managed to pick out just the right shots and cut them together so that it didn't look like one long spot but like true, sweet, fond and proud memories of a beloved daughter and before she knew it, Veronica was smiling as she watched Lilly grow and remembered some of these times.

Suddenly, the music changed from the classical guitar that had been playing so far to the hammering of an electric guitar and the footage moved over to the limo party with a close up of Lilly in the back seat of the limo as she looked right into the camera.

"Hello America! You wanted Lilly. You got her," Lilly's voice rang out and Veronica felt her eyes starting to sting. "Now sit back and enjoy the ride."

The music kicked in, pure rock, as the video showed a close up of Lilly and Veronica on the backseat – well, rather, one could see their chests, most of all Lilly's of course though that drew back to show them dancing on the backseat, clearly having the fun of their lives. The surprised crowd around Veronica started to laugh. Lilly popped the champagne and poured it into her glass and several people cheered back to her with the candle in their hands. Lilly stuck her bottom out of the limo and beside Veronica, Troy let out an appreciating "Yeah" and he was not the only one. Veronica laughed, remembering her and Duncan's shock when Logan had dared Lilly to do just that. Lilly and Logan crossing their arms to drink goes over to Lilly dancing. Lilly drinking again. Some more shots from a younger Lilly mixed in. A couple of stills showing Logan and Lilly kissing which caused catcalls coming from the watching crowd. Then Lilly on the beach, running towards Logan filming her with her arms wide open, a bottle of champagne in her hand, beaming. Back in the limo, Lilly with her head out of the open sunroof, enjoying the wind blowing into her face. And finally, a content and utterly happy, satisfied Lilly looking down into the camera, held by Logan as Veronica remembered. "You love me, don't you?_" _she asked softly, but knowingly, her smile simply breathtaking. The video freezes at that and then the screen goes black.

The crowd clapped and cheered loudly.

Veronica caught Logan looking at her and smiling, she nodded back. Now that had been a memorial video like Lilly would have wanted it. He couldn't have hit it better. But then, she had known that he would pull it off. After all, he had been one of the people to know Lilly best. Had loved her as much as Veronica had. And he really was the best she knew at making videos such like this one. It was the reason why he had always been the one she had allowed to film or take a picture with her cameras when she couldn't or wanted to be in the footage. To her utter surprise, Logan smiled back to her, not the deriding smile he sent her way nowadays, but a real, genuine if perhaps a bit unsure, almost shy smile.

For a moment it reminded her so much of him, her friend, that the breath knocked out of her and taking a deep, steadying breath, she glanced over to the Kanes. Celeste was furious, that much was obvious. But Jake was crying, sobbing, while Duncan tried to comfort his father. The sight of the grieving father brought Veronica back to reality immediately and she sobered up.

Right.

"You okay?"

At Troy's concerned question, Veronica looked to the left and saw that Troy had come to stand beside her, looking worriedly at her. Swallowing down the big gulp in her throat, Veronica tried to smile and nodded bravely. She didn't trust her voice yet. Troy looked a moment longer at her and then nodded slowly, his hand lightly stroking down her arm in a comforting manner though. Clearly, he didn't believe her, but he let it rest and that was just what was the right thing to do right now.

Around them, the crowd started to break up, head away. Behind Troy, Veronica spotted a familiar face she really hadn't expected to see there.

Why on Earth was Weevil attending a memorial service for Lilly Kane? And… was he really rubbing at his eyes as if he had been crying or was she imagining things?

"So… that was Lilly?"

Startled, Veronica looked over to see Wallace standing right beside Troy, hands in his jeans pockets. Smiling, Veronica nodded slowly. "Yeah, that was Lilly."

Wallace nodded. "Cool girl," he commented with a smile.

"The coolest," Veronica agreed.

Again, Wallace nodded and looked over to Georgia waiting for him. "Yeah well, I should go, get my lady home. See you tomorrow?" he asked, looking back to Veronica.

"You bet," Veronica confirmed.

"Troy," Wallace nodded and left.

"So… need a ride home?" Troy asked.

"No, I've got my car here," Veronica told him with a shrug.

"Okay… And… you want to be alone right now," he stated, knowingly.

Surprised by his insight, Veronica met his eyes. "Yeah," she said quietly. "Don't be mad, but…"

Troy put a hand onto her arm and stroked it. "Hey, it's okay. I understand." He smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

Smiling, Veronica nodded. "Definitely."

Troy leaned down and kissed her, then he left. For a moment, Veronica watched him go before she took a deep breath and turned back around to the front. Only few people still lingered around, most of them talking in a group. A few were looking closer at the fountain. And off to the left, Celeste was talking heatedly to Logan, who listened with his head down, occasionally giving a nod. Veronica chuckled. His pose looked anything else than chagrined. Sheepishly would nail it better. She watched as Duncan joined them and put a calming hand onto Celeste's shoulder, saying something. Bristling, Celeste interrupted her tirade and looked over to her husband who obviously still had a hard time to get a grip of himself. Directing a last smoldering glare Logan's way, she turned and stalked over to Jake. Logan looked up and met Duncan's eyes, who said something with a smile, giving his friend a slap onto the back before heading back to his parents.

Veronica smiled. She had known that he would approve of Logan's video. With a sigh, Veronica turned and slowly walked over to the fountain. Once in front of it, she stood and looked at it. There was a golden plate, '_In memory of Lilly Kane'_ along with her birth and death date. Veronica shook her head and sighed deeply.

"Doesn't exactly scream Lilly, huh?"

Somehow, she wasn't surprised this time. She looked back up at Logan. "Not even close." She looked back at the water trickling down in the fountain/painting. "It should be a real fountain where we could foul around in, touch the water, be able to throw it at someone."

"Into which you can push someone," Logan added, grinning.

Veronica matched his grin. "Yeah. But then, this is Celeste's choice, so we can hardly be surprised, can't we?" She turned around and looked into his eyes. "And Lilly would have hated it. But she would have loved your video, Logan. It was beautiful," she told him quietly.

Logan looked over her head at the fountain for a moment, before his eyes went back to hers. "Yeah, well, I couldn't have done it without your tape," he said as quietly.

After a moment, Veronica nodded and shrugged. "I thought it may help. Besides, if I remember correctly, once I let you have my camera you wouldn't give it back anymore until the battery had died down. So, most of it is your stuff anyway and I know how you prefer to work with your own stuff."

Logan grinned. "At least then the recordings are steady. You may take a good shot, Mars, but you really should let the professionals do the filming. Your sequences were so what of wobbled that they were totally useless."

Veronica's eyes narrowed. "They were not!"

"Totally were," Logan insisted, unimpressed.

"Yet you used them for the video," she pointed out.

But Logan shrugged. "One or two that were savable." His grin died and he grew more serious again. "Speaking of which – here," he said and, his hand pulling out of his pocket, he held out his palm, her mini-cassette lying on it.

Slowly, Veronica nodded and took it, looking at it for a moment. "I'm glad it could help," she said softly, avoiding Logan's eyes. "Yeah, well, I should go," she said and started to move forward, past Logan.

Logan gave a nod, without saying anything. But after Veronica had taken a few steps, she heard him call out to her. "Hey!"

Stopping, she looked back at him, his eyes meeting hers.

"Thanks, Ronnie," he said very softly.

Suddenly, there was a gulp in her throat. So she just nodded once and then hurried away. It was too much. The service, the memories of Lilly and now… Now Logan treating her as if she actually was a human being. More, treating her like before, reminding her oh so much more of just what all she had lost. Because she wasn't deluding herself. Nothing had changed between Logan and her. He still hated her, they were still enemies. This – truce of the moment between them had nothing to do with them but everything with Lilly.

But… wasn't it possible that maybe…

No. No, she wasn't going to give herself to false hope. Wasn't going to get disappointed and hurt again.

Never again.

At least not by Logan.

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The dance was in full swing and the young people had a blast. The atmosphere was happy and careless, just like it should be.

Logan hated it. The music was boring, there were too many people that were damn too happy, the redhead he had brought along as a date had turned out to be the biggest airhead he had ever met and he found the whole event simply disgusting and boring.

Then again, he was pretty sure that his foul mood had a lot to do with it.

He shouldn't have come. He should have stayed home like Duncan had. This wasn't the place, the time or the event for him. It didn't do him any good.

He knew that now. Too bad the insight came too late. Then again, it was a mistake he could easily rectify. But to keep face, he had decided to stand it out for an hour longer, perhaps two. Thank God Dick and the guys had looked to it that there was enough booze around for him to bear those hours. He had ditched his date rather soon to settle down somewhere near the wall together with a bottle of scotch with curtains hiding him from the watchful eyes of the teachers chaperoning them. From there he watched his classmates having fun.

There was one face he hadn't spotted so far. Not that he was looking for her. He was just curious where she was after all the mayhem her boyfriend had made about them coming. Had she changed her mind after all? Had she been overwhelmed by all the memories coming up with this dance, the memorial service and had cancelled on Troy after all?

And why the hell did he care about it in the first place? Just because she had lent him an old recording of hers for the video and had liked what he had done with it didn't mean that anything had changed between them. She was still the same bitch as before.

"_It was beautiful."_

So what? It didn't matter what she thought about the video.

_Liar._

Angry, Logan took a long dip from his bottle. Okay, perhaps that wasn't quite the truth. It did matter. For that video, only two opinions had mattered to him. Duncan's, who had liked it and fuck it all to hell, Veronica's. But not because he had changed his mind about her, but because these two were the only people who could judge how Lilly would have liked it. No other reason.

The fact that, in these days, he had more thought about Ronnie than in a long while had nothing to do with it. Nor that he had thought of her as Ronnie rather than Veronica, the bitch. And that he had made a copy of her tape of the limo-party for himself didn't mean anything. He had just done it because of Lilly, to have something to remember her last happy days. Nothing with Veronica.

Right.

_Right!_

Another angry sip. Over by the door, another group of couples arrived and glad for the distraction, Logan looked over – and felt the breath being knocked out of him.

Veronica. Impersonating the famous lady in red with the red, strapless, short satin dress that showed a lot of her white skin and her legs.

Veronica, looking _hot_. So hot that he actually felt his body react to the luscious sight of her in that dress.

Time and time again he had heard people refer to Veronica as hot. Sexy. Ranking between an eight and ten. Her reputation was bad, questionable, but most guys never questioned her hotness. Logan though hadn't been one of those guys. Before… When he had met her at twelve, he had thought her hot. But her smile and her natural, sweet way in which she had accepted him, not giving a damn about who his parents were or how big his pocket money was had soon over layered his initial attraction and she had become his friend, her looks growing indifferent to him. Oh, he had always acknowledged that she was good looking, he had eyes after all, but never had _thought_ of her like that. Besides, the old Veronica had been sweet and cute, no doubt about that, but hot? Nah. Then he and Lilly had gotten together and he only had had eyes for his girlfriend. Plus, she always had been Duncan's girl, his crush on her unmistakable but to Veronica herself. So when people talked about Veronica being hot, Logan had just shook his head and said nothing, believing that they were crazy.

His eyes wandered over her slim body, the red satin hugging her every curve, leaving little to imagination, yet being very classy and tasteful and he took a deep, steadying breath.

They weren't crazy. It was rather that he had been blind.

Confused, Logan took a long gulp of his scotch. What the hell was he thinking here? He wasn't honestly attracted to _Veronica Mars_, was he? No. No way. He was a hot blooded male, that was all. And as such, it was only normal if his body showed a reaction to a hot tiny blond girl in a red sexy dress.

From where had she that dress anyway? This wasn't her style, not at all, not the old Ronnie's one who had preferred pink and white and most of all, modest and a little boring, nor how she preferred to dress since she had changed.

_(Flashback)_

"_Why so grumpy?" Logan wanted to know, watching his girlfriend warily while she paced through his bedroom. _

"_It's Veronica. She went shopping without me!" Lilly answered, disgruntled._

"_Scandalous!" Logan commented dryly._

"_No, you don't get it. She went to buy a dress for the dance without me!" Lilly protested, glaring at him._

_Laughing, Logan held up his hands. "Hey, chill Lilly, okay? So Ronnie bought a dress on her own. What's so bad about that?"_

"_She just… she went and bought some pink, nice, modest dress, without any imagination, so not like her!" Lilly explained._

_Logan shrugged. "Sounds like her."_

"_No, it doesn't!" Lilly contradicted him vehemently. "She's nothing like that! You really think she'd be my best friend if she's as boring as that dress she bought? She isn't! She's red satin, strapless, wild, sexy – she just doesn't dare to show that the world. And I really hoped she would finally let that side of her show. Show the world how hot she is."_

"_Lilly, come on," Logan laughed, unbelieving. "Ronnie? Wild and sexy? Hot? On what Earth are you living?"_

"_Yeah, yeah, don't believe me. You and Duncan are so blind, you just see what you want to see. But I tell you, one day, Veronica will come out of her shell and show her true self and you won't know what hit you!" Lillly said with a pointed look before she turned and left him, laughing after her._

_Yeah _sure, _that was going to happen!_

_(End Flashback)_

God, he hated it when Lilly was right – but she definitely had been right back then. There Veronica was, in red, strapless satin, and he couldn't deny that it suited her perfectly. Better than her pink dress last year. But… it suited her how she was nowadays, not the old one.

Lilly had said she'd show her true self. He doubted though that Lilly had expected Ronnie's true self to be that of a heartless bitch.

Then again – would a heartless bitch have cared what Lilly would have wanted for her memorial service, how she was remembered? Would the cold, heartless bitch have made a deal with the PCH biker gang in order to make sure that Logan wouldn't have to fear their revenge for going after one of their boys? Could she still find the right words to make Logan feel better, at least for a while?

Ronnie's group moved closer to where he was and he could have an even closer look at her now, her bare shoulder blades, the way her dress hugged her every curves and damn nice curves it were, he had to admit that, her legs that, despite her small height, looked damn long right now. And her short hair, that – was wet?

He narrowed his eyes. Yeah… it was wet. Why was her hair wet?

_(Flashback)_

"_Come on, Veronica, it's your turn. Do not lame out," Lilly urged her best friend on.  
_

"_Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. I've never…" Veronica thought for a moment, then smiled. "…gone skinny dipping," she finished, blushing._

_"Oh jeez," Logan laughed and shook his head, unbelieving, taking a sip of his champagne. How could a sixteen year old girl living in Neptune never have gone skinny dipping? He couldn't even remember when it had been his first time he had done that. Let alone how many times he and Lilly had gone together since they had become a couple two years ago. _

_"That is just unacceptable. We're gonna have to do something about that, Veronica Mars," Lilly protested incredulous._

_(End Flashback)  
_

No… No way… it couldn't be…

Or could it?

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An hour or perhaps even a bit more had passed and Logan could see that Veronica, just like him, wasn't having a good time. Oh, she made a good face and was smiling at Troy and Fennel, but the smile was strained, not real. He knew her long and well enough to tell.

Why his eyes seemed to be glued to the tiny blond one in her sexy outfit was beyond him, but watching her was far more interesting than anything else. In the meantime, her hair had dried and was now curling in soft waves around her face.

"Yo, dude, here you are! I've been looking for ages for you! What are you doing back here?"

Startled, Logan turned his head to spot Dick standing right beside him, looking strangely at him.

"Oh, uh… just needed a little break," Logan answered, quickly pushing away from his spot.

"A long break," Dick muttered.

"Yeah well, I needed to escape – uh, Eva," Logan said, making a face. "She's a clinger."

"Dude," Dick said sympathetically.

Out of the corner of his eyes he saw a flash of red and blond and automatically his eyes were drawn into that direction, just in time to see the back of Veronica vanish through a door. Quickly, he glanced to where she had been a while before, and sure enough, there were Troy, Fennel and Fennel's date, apparently not bothered at all by Veronica's departure.

Why should they? She probably just made a bathroom break. Just… the bathrooms were in the opposite directions. Logan frowned. The door she had taken would lead her directly out onto the school grounds. Now if she had gone out there with Troy, okay, but all alone? What the heck was she planning to do now?

"I'll be right back," he murmured to Dick and, not waiting for a response, he quickly went after Veronica. As he slipped out of the same door as she had he was cursing himself to all hells for doing that. What was he thinking? He didn't care what Veronica Mars was up to, what she was doing, what she was thinking, in short, he didn't care about her at all anymore. Still, his eyes scanned the area and when they didn't spot the tiny blond girl, his feet moved on instinct and Logan let them. Barely believing what he was doing there but he always had been one to follow his instincts. And his instinct told him to follow Veronica, to find her.

He passed the ridiculous fountain the Kanes had donated in memory of Lilly and slowly, he grew aware of just where his instinct was leading him to. For a moment he slowed down as a tight, cold grip closed around his heart. He should go back. Yet, even while he thought that, he started to move forward again, slower though this time. Two corners later, he stopped again, this time though because he had finally found Veronica.

By now he wasn't surprised to find her where he did. Standing in front of the tree. Their tree, the tree where the four of them usually had met after school, during lunch breaks. The tree in witch's shadows the four of them had spent so many happy hours and most of all, it was Lilly's favorite spot on the whole school grounds. Therefore, he had avoided this particular spot like the pest for a year now.

Fucking great.

What was the irony that he ended coming back here after all on just this night, by following Veronica of all people?

He so wasn't ready for this. Let alone with Veronica watching and probably putting up a fight with him once again. Thank God, she didn't seem to have noticed him so far though. Not hesitating any second later, he turned and went back the way he had come. Only that he would go back to his car, instead of going back to the dance. Well, he'd need to find the bimbo and arrange for someone else to take her back, but then he was so out of there!

"See Lillly? I'm finally wearing the red satin you wanted me to."

Veronica's quiet voice drifting over to him stopped Logan dead in his tracks. Hesitantly, he looked back to Veronica, staring up into the tree, her arms slung tightly around herself.

"When I saw it I knew it was just the dress you would have picked out for me." She let out a laugh. "Hell, what do I know? Perhaps you did pull some mojo and arranged for me to find it right on the first row I looked."

Okay. It was official now, Veronica Mars was definitely crazy. First talking to a tree and now believing that a ghost played a dress into her hands. Shaking his head, Logan turned his head back up front and took two more steps – and froze in the middle of the third at what he saw in front of him. Or rather said, who.

_Lilly?_

Jeez. What kind of sick shit was that? Apparently, Veronica wasn't the only one crazy here. No… the scotch. It had to be the scotch. Craziness or booze, but he was _not_ seeing his dead girlfriend standing in front of him, wearing her pep squad uniform. He squeezed his eyes shut.

"Whatever makes you feel better, Logan."

Nor was he hearing her voice.

"And what the hell do you think you're doing?"

Or the edge in it, that furious undertone she would get when she was mad at him about something.

"She's my best friend, remember? _Your_ friend! And she's hurting! So what are you waiting for? Go to her!"

No, no, _no_, this wasn't happening!

"She needs you. Any you know what? The reason why you can't get her out of your head is because you need her as well."

Okay, hallucination or not, this was going too far. "No!" he whispered harshly as his eyes opened to glare at – air.

Of course. What else should be there but air?

"And guess what? I finally went skinny dipping today."

Confused as hell and wanting nothing else than to be far, far away from there, Logan was determined to do just that. Bolt. But he found himself unable to. Instead, he slowly turned to look once again at Veronica who still hadn't noticed him.

Some P.I. she was. Didn't even notice if someone was following her, sneaking up on her.

Or going skinny dipping, probably all alone with nothing and no one there to protect her.

"At first it was great, just like you said it would be. It has something to be in the water, without anything on, I've got to admit that. But you know what? It still sucked. Because you weren't there!"

At Veronica's accusation, Logan sharply focused back on the here and now.

"You were supposed to be with me when I went skinny dipping for the first time in my life! And you're supposed to be here now, being the queen of this party! You. Are. Supposed. To. Be. Here!" There was a gurgling sound before Veronica took a step forward and started to bang onto the tree. "I wasn't supposed to do all that alone! And I sure as hell wasn't supposed to go to your memorial service yesterday! I'm supposed to enjoy this evening, the little I have still left, and not barely be able to bear it because I can't forget that you should be here or that we and the boys should try to top last year's limo-party. And I should be inside, dancing with my boyfriend instead of being here and having a freaking breakdown!" she yelled before she slipped down the tree to huddle at his foot, her arms right around herself as she began to sob uncontrollably.

His heart was drumming in his ears as Logan listened to her heartbroken cries, watched her slight form being rocked by the force of her sobs and he felt a burning in his own eyes, his own throat.

"Why Lilly? Why did you let yourself being killed? Why didn't you tell me that secret? Would it have mattered at all? God, I miss you so much. We all miss you so much. Didn't you know how much we needed you? How important you are to us? Your death destroyed everything!"

Before he knew it, Logan was finally able to move again – forward, towards Veronica.

"Duncan's hardly smiling anymore, acting all weird and impassive. Logan's not himself anymore either, bitter and so angry and having turned into a real jackass. And I…" her voice died as her sobs grew heavier.

Finally having reached her, Logan stopped and looked down at the crying girl, unsure what to do now. A year ago, he would have knelt beside her and taken her into his arms, trying to less her pain, her sorrow. But as she had just said so herself, they weren't the same persons as a year ago anymore. He couldn't do that anymore, nor did he want to. Still… this girl had been his friend once and right now, she was as hurting as he was, out of the same reason and somehow, he needed to so something to comfort her. Comfort himself.

He looked up, gazing at the branches of the tree, the stars shining through here and there. "Have grown hard and tough and utterly alone," he finished Veronica's words softly.

Hearing her gasp he looked down to see her staring up at him with wide eyes, shock written all over her face. He gave her a sarcastic smile before he looked up again. "And we're not supposed to be here, hating each other by now but still knowing deep down that at least at this time, we can't avoid each other, because really, we're the only ones able to understand what is going on with the other one. Because you're not supposed to be dead." Gulping, Logan looked back down, straight into Veronica's bright, wet eyes, so full of pain and loss, a mirror to his own. "It isn't fair. It's wrong. But it's still the horrible truth and I guess we just have to live with that, as much as it may suck."

With a sigh, he leaned against the tree and closed his eyes, so tired of pretending everything was fine, so tired of missing Lilly, Duncan and even Veronica, at least the old Veronica, all the time. Tired of fighting and struggling. Just tired.

For a very long time, neither of them said anything, the only sound a slight noise drifting over from the ballroom hall here and then and Veronica's dying down sobs.

"I guess so," Veronica eventually whispered, her voice still raw with emotions but with the tears gone out of it.

Opening his eyes, Logan looked down at her bowed head, but said nothing.

"You know what is the most twisted thing with all that? Us being such a mess without her would just send Lilly through the roof with satisfaction," she mumbled darkly.

Logan let out a short bark of laughter. "That it would." He took a swing from the bottle he was holding in his hand. "She must be real happy right now," he added and, hesitating a second, held out the bottle to Veronica.

She too hesitated but she surprised him by slowly taking it and tilting it to take a long swallow. And sputtered. Still, she took another sweep before she handed the bottle back to Logan, wiping at her mouth.

He grinned. "One should think you've gotten used to the hard stuff by now," he remarked dryly and took another sip himself.

"You know me, full of surprises," Veronica responded as dryly and stood up.

"Yeah… you are," Logan said softly, flatly. Good surprises, but a lot of bad surprises as well.

"One could say that about you as well, though," she said, patting down herself before she wiped at her face.

Silently, Logan watched her, not missing the fact that she was avoiding looking at him. Finally, Veronica let her hands sink down and slowly, she raised her head to look at him. Not blinking, he held her eyes.

After a moment, a very long moment, Veronica gave an imperceptible nod. "I need to get back. See you around, Logan."

Giving the same small nod, Logan raised the bottle at her. "See you around, Ronnie."

Not moving, he watched her go and finally vanish around the next corner on her way back. Sighing, Logan looked up at the tree and the sky again.

"Now what the fuck had that been?" he whispered into the night.

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_TBC!_

_(Author's Note: Well, well, well, another chapter and actually the adaptation of the very first episode I've ever seen of this wonderful show, gripping me right from the first second on. But then, this episode is damn good, one of my favorites. I hoped you liked my additional scenes and Logan and Veronica's thoughts at this time. Thanks for the wonderful comments! And now: enjoy!)_


	5. Of road trips and stolen cars

**Chapter 5: Of Road Trips And Stolen Cars**

**(You think you know somebody)**

In hindsight, Logan had to admit that the trip to Tijuana may not have been one of his best ideas. And it definitely hadn't been a good idea to go onto that trip with Luke and even worse: Troy. How the hell had he ever thought that that could be a good idea?

He just… he had been edgy, ever since homecoming a week ago and his strange meeting with Veronica. Something had changed with their moments of understanding, of grief over the girl they had both loved and lost. He found himself not wanting to taunt her any longer. Hell, he found himself downright unable to confront her, call her names or spread further lies about her. Somehow, her crying her heart out, being so obviously in pain over Lilly's loss, so much like his own pain… It had thrown a bucket of ice water over the fire of his rage towards her that had burnt inside him ever since the day she had backed up her dad for going after Jake Kane, the day she had chosen her dad over her friends.

That girl that had sobbed so heart wrenchingly couldn't be the girl that had betrayed her best friend in the worst way. Somehow, in all those months since then, he had made himself believe that Veronica didn't care about Lilly. Had never been the girl he thought she was. Now though… No way could that hurting and grieving girl not have loved Lilly like everyone had thought she did. And the girl that had worked with him, despite everything, to make sure that Lilly got a tribute like she would have wanted one, was no one else but the girl he had known for years.

His friend. _Lilly's_ friend.

_And what the hell do you think you're doing?_

Then there was that hallucination he had had of Lilly. And the accusation in her eyes, her voice.

_She's my best friend, remember? Your friend! And she's hurting! So what are you waiting for? Go to her!_

Hallucination or not, it sure had sounded a lot like his Lilly. And he couldn't get her words out of his head, no matter how much he drank or tried to ignore it, tone them out. They were there now and seeping into his conscious.

In all that time, he had never allowed himself to consider what Lilly would think of the way he treated her best friend. He had made himself believe that he had done it for Lilly, to do the revenge he had convinced himself she would have wanted but couldn't do anymore for her. That the girl he went after wasn't the same girl that had been Lilly's best friend. His friend.

But that wasn't working anymore.

The most likely truth was that Lilly would have his balls for the way he had treated Veronica.

And suddenly, instead of rage and pure hatred he was bombarded with doubts if he had really done the right thing to shun Veronica like he had, to do everything in his power to make her life the same living hell his was. Guilt over how he had treated Lilly's best friend, a girl that up until her death had always been loyal to Lilly. To him. Well, there had been that one time, but until then…

All that accompanied by memories of Ronnie. Ronnie with Lilly. Ronnie with Duncan. But most of them, Ronnie with him, her helping him doing homework, them laughing, them comfortably hang out together, just the two of them.

Why hadn't she been able to stay loyal? Why had she had to turn her back on them? Or… had they really left her any realistic chance? Even if she had decided to not stand with her father in his mad suspicions – would they have tolerated her anyway? If he had had decided to remain their friendship, stand with her, would that have been enough for the others to not going to haunt her anyway? He knew he had quite an influence, but that much?

Why did it matter all of a sudden anyway? The past was the past, over with, done. There was no going back.

But it still left him unsure about how to treat her anymore. So he had done the only logic thing.

Avoid her.

Which had been surprisingly easy to do. Well, he did see glimpses of her and the way Troy was all over her seemingly all the time was unmistakable as well, but not once had they been in danger to talk with each other, not even in Newspaper class, both of them very eager to solely concentrate on their tasks and articles.

Things stayed uneasy though and soon, Logan had just wanted to get away, so badly that when he had overheard Troy telling about a parent free weekend and wanting to perhaps make a trip with his Dad's car, the idea had formed in his head of making a trip to Tijuana. He had made a comment into that direction and Troy had immediately sprung on it, along with Luke.

Now that hadn't surprised Logan at all. Lately, Luke had been awfully interested into steroids lately. He had just hoped that Luke would be smart enough to hide the drugs so that they wouldn't get busted at the border controls. Of course, that had been asked for too much. Any idiot could have made out that ugly piñata as filled with a little bit more than just treats. Good for them, they had been driving in a flashy but modest looking BMW, obviously rich kids on a trip and the guy at the border was either very stupid or simply too bored to get suspicious of the ugly piñata.

And if he wanted to be honest, up until now the trip hadn't been so bad. Luke had been too busy to be afraid of just what that hooker was going to do with him to obsess too much about the run he was making. And Troy, if not all over a certain tiny blond girl, was actually quite fun. Logan still didn't like him very much – now even less than before, but still… he sure had been up for living a memorable Tijuana experience. A bit too much, in Logan's opinion. Apparently, Troy wasn't the most faithful boyfriend. Not that he had proof that he had really cheated on Veronica – but he sure had had no problem to flirt like a pro. And he had vanished for some unaccounted time and Logan was pretty sure he hadn't been alone in that time.

It irritated Logan and even more, it irritated him that he _was_ irritated by his unfaithfulness towards Ronnie. Ronnie wasn't his business anymore. He didn't look out for her anymore. And he sure as hell didn't teach assholes a lesson anymore for treating her the hell like she deserved to be treated. So he had never said anything more than a dirty comment here or there when Troy had found his way back to them, remarks that had only been answered with a conspiratorial wink at him. If Ronnie had been so stupid to let herself being blended by such a player, what did he care? Right, nothing. It wasn't his business anymore.

So he had gone and fucked the next best hooker he could find. And then he had drunk himself into blissful obliviousness, finally forgetting Ronnie, Lilly's haunting words, basically, his whole life, for once - at least for a few hours.

That had been the whole goal of this trip, hadn't it been? Right.

Still… the moment they had gotten out of the diner to find Troy's car to be stolen – and them stranded there, it definitely had been the doornail to make this trip one big mistake.

"And what are we going to do now?" Luke worried. "Call the police?"

"Sure, and next thing I know my ass is being hauled to the next catholic school in Albuquerque," Troy spat out.

"But…" Luke's voice trailed off and he bit his lips, looking away.

Logan sighed and ran his hands over his face. "I think more important right now is the question how we're going to get home. Any ideas?"

"A taxi?" Luke offered a moment.

"Yeah, and how are we going to pay him? I don't know how it is with you, but the money I have left will never get us back to Neptune," Troy sarcastically said. "Besides, I'm sure our chances to get a taxi out here, in the middle of the night, that is willing to pick up three stranded boys, are really high," he added snidely.

"Well, what then?" Luka whined. He turned towards Logan. "Can't we call someone to come get us? Dick maybe?"

"Surf competition in Miami," Logan said, shaking his head.

Luke's face fell, before lightening up again. "Duncan?"

"On a trip with his father to Santa Barbara, meeting some high horses in politics," Logan though crushed his hopes once again.

"Oh… Ian or Mike?" Luke just wouldn't stop.

"With Dick," Logan answered shortly.

"Sean?"

"First, he can't drive you idiot and second, he said something about spending the weekend in LA," Logan said, growing annoyed.

There had been more reasons why he had ended up with Luke and Troy of all people than just convenience.

"Fuck!" Luke exclaimed and ran his hands through his hair, pulling it. Finally, he looked over to Troy. "What about you? Don't you know someone?"

Troy said nothing, just sighed. Alarmed, Logan tensed. Please…

"What about your girlfriend?" Luke exclaimed, cheering up momentarily. "Veronica sure isn't on some trip, is she? And why wouldn't she want to come pick up her boyfriend in the time of need?"

Too late, Logan thought darkly, feeling his hands ball to fists. No way was he going to spend a fucking car ride with her of at least four and a half hours. No matter how desperate their situation seemed to be. _No way_!

"No," he said, determinedly.

Troy gave him a curious look, but then shook his head. "I'd rather not call Veronica," he said quietly.

"Why not? Got into a fight with her?" Luke wanted to know with a frown.

"No, it's not that, I just…" Troy started to protest, but Luke quickly interrupted him.

"Well, if you got no better idea I suggest you call Veronica and ask her to come pick us up. The sooner the better," Luke insisted.

"We could tramp," Logan suggested, meaning every word.

Two pair of eyes stared at him, incredulous.

"Okay, okay," Logan muttered and sighed, defeated. "Guess it's our best option."

Too fucking bad about that.

Hesitating a moment longer, Troy, nodding resigned, pulled out his cell phone and hit speed dial.

* * *

"Hmm?" Veronica groggily answered her phone when it just wouldn't stop ringing.

"How much do you like me?"

She furrowed her brows, trying to get a grip on her bearings. "Troy?" she mumbled, still sleepily.

"Yeah. You in habit of getting many calls this time of night?"

"Just those from my two lovers," Veronica answered and yawned.

"Lovers, huh? Do I know them?"

"Nah, I keep them hidden in my secret cupboard." Another yawn. "You know, when I told you to call me once you're back I didn't mean immediately upon return. You could have waited 'til morning."

Troy sighed. "I guess I woke you, huh?"

"You guess right. Some people are going to school tomorrow," Veronica agreed, closing her heavy lids again. "Was the trip good?"

"Well…" The tone in her boyfriend's voice made Veronica opening her eyes once again in apprehension. "The trip's not over yet, technically."

"Please tell me you don't need me to come bail you out," Veronica groaned.

"No, no, nothing like that. Wait, why would you think you'd need to come bail me out?" Troy asked, a frown in his voice.

"You're on a trip with Logan, aren't you?" Veronica asked back, as if that explained anything. And really, it did, didn't it?

"Yeah," Troy though answered confused.

Veronica sighed and sat up, rubbing her eyes. Sometime she forgot that he didn't know Logan as well and long as she did. "Just forget it. Why did you call me and just what I'm supposed to do for you?"

There was a deep sigh on the other end of the line. "We're outside a bar, perhaps two miles from the border."

"Shocker," Veronica commented dryly.

"When we left the bar after having eaten something, the car was gone," Troy continued, ignoring her comment.

Her eyes widened. "What?"

"Our car. Gone. Stolen," Troy clarified.

Perking up, Veronica started to grin. "Please tell me it had been Logan's car."

"No, I wish it were. It was my dad's, remember? And he's going to kill me if he finds out about this," Troy though smashed her hopes.

Right, she did remember that Troy had mentioned that he would be driving to Tijuana. Too bad.

"So… Could you come pick us up?" Troy finished, asking hopefully.

Oh no.

Veronica suppressed another groan. "Pick you up?" she repeated.

"Yeah," Troy answered and she did give him points for not sounding impatient.

"You and Logan?" she clarified. "I mean, Logan's there, isn't he?"

"Yeah, he's here. And Luke. Why?" Troy asked and once again, she could hear the frown in his voice.

This time, she did groan. Then sighed. A very deep sigh. "You so owe me for this one, Troy. If you didn't happen to be my boyfriend nothing could get me to drive down to the border to come pick you up, let alone at this time of day," she muttered darkly.

"I know, I totally know. And I promise I will make it up to you," Troy promised, relief evident in his voice.

"We'll see if you can ever do that," Veronica replied and sighed again. "I better get a start and get dressed."

"Please tell me you're naked," Troy immediately said, back to his usual sprightly, coy self.

"You wish," Veronica laughed.

"Oh yeah, I do," Troy agreed, wholeheartedly.

Veronica rolled her eyes. "Goodbye."

Closing the phone, she let herself drop back onto her mattress once again. How the hell did she end up agreeing on a minimum four and a half hours ride with one Logan Echolls?

This was going to be hell.

With a tormented sigh, she forced herself to get up and started to quickly dress himself.

Though she had to admit that ever since their little heart to heart at homecoming, Logan had yet to throw a new insult at her. Actually, he had yet to say something to her. He avoided her and she was just fine with that. She did her best to avoid him as well for that matter.

It just… Something had changed between them yet again and it drove Veronica crazy that she didn't know what exactly. And what to expect of Logan now. They had come to some sort of truce, when he had come forward for the second time in a row and hadn't been hurtful – just honest. She wasn't fooled to believe that they were even remotely to the point they had been before everything had gone downhill – but she felt that they weren't outspoken enemies anymore either. But that was the problem. She had known what to expect of Logan as her friend – up until he turned to be his enemy. There too she had learned to know what to expect from him though. Now… nada.

Should she be careful and expect the next clever but oh so hurtful strike against her? Or could she relax with the hope that Logan was through with his war on her and would let her be in peace from now on? History would suggest to be wary as hell – but then again, history also told her to relax, because she had seen his burning rage and hate towards her and she didn't get that vibe from him anymore.

The boy that had offered her his drink wasn't the vicious guy who had continued to harass her, calling her names, spreading rumors about her, smashing in her headlights. And the boy thanking her for the tape she had lent him wasn't that jerk either.

But he was a lot more like the boy she used to know. Often acting as a complete jackass but basically, a good guy. And if he wanted to, one hell of a friend.

She just wasn't sure what to believe anymore. Part of her desperately wanted to believe that Logan's war with her was over. Then though… After everything that happened, how could she ever truly relax again?

Besides… she had believed she was over the loss of the friend Logan had been once. But seeing glimpses of that friend over those crazy days in homecoming week had shaken her, making her long once again for that friend. They haunted her now, memories of the friend mixing up with memories of the enemy and frankly said, it confused the hell out of her.

So she had stayed away from him, an automatic protection mechanism, she guessed.

Soon though, there was no chance to keep avoiding him anymore.

She would be stuck with Logan Echolls riding in her car, along with her boyfriend and another 09er kid.

Oh yeah, life was just loving to throw curveballs her way.

* * *

Waiting with a worried Troy and a scared Luke in front of a closed bar was no fun at all. Troy kept murmuring about how dead he was when his father found out about the car and Luke kept going from whining about when Veronica finally would get there to silent whimpering as realization of what was going to happen to him once he'd get home sans drugs. Logan felt slightly sympathetic with him, but then, that was what you'd get when you got involved into such businesses.

He for his part was silent – at least to the others. His head though repeated over and over just what a bad idea this was, that he should rather tramp than risk to get into the same car as one Veronica Mars. Especially as a tiny one as her Le Baron was.

Luke was once again in his whimpering phase and apparently, this time even Troy picked up that something didn't quite add up with Luke's devastation.

"What's your problem?" he asked, frowning at Luke. "It's not even your ass on the line."

"Yeah, I know. This just… really sucks, man," Luke answered evadingly.

"Wow man, that's profound," Logan snorted, really getting tired of both their attics.

"My parents come home in five days. If the car's not back before my dad is, I'm going to be singing hymns and doing rosary beads before you can say 'The Passion'," went off Troy once again, perhaps for the fiftieth times.

Really, really tired. So when he heard a car approaching he looked up and was actually glad that Veronica had finally made it. Who'd have thought he'd ever be glad to see her arriving in her car again?

She slowed down and pulled up in front of them. For a brief second, their eyes met before they both looked away. Logan down and Veronica's eyes slid over to the boy sitting beside him.

She grinned. "Dude, where's your car?" she asked and Logan could tell she was having a good time at their misfortune.

Figures.

Though he had a hard time to suppress an amused smile himself.

Troy didn't seem too amused though and just shook his head.

Veronica smiled apologetically. "Sorry."

To Logan's ears she didn't sound sorry at all but Troy was already getting up and headed over to her. A lot more slowly, Logan got up as well.

He took one step towards her car and her eyes focused onto him. "Ah," she spoke up, indicating Logan. "Your monkey's gonna have to ride in the back," she said.

Unfazed, Logan kept coming forward and threw his duffel into the back of her car. "Ha, ha, nice car," he mocked as he climbed in, winking at her sarcastically. "God, it must have been a huge cereal box," he added dryly as he plopped down into the seat behind her, folding his long legs into the tiny space the best way he could.

Her eyes narrowed and she opened her mouth, undoubtedly to wisecrack back at him but Troy stopped her with a hand holding up. "Now, let's that go. Cherish these moments," he told her, smiling goofily while he let Luke into the seat behind the passenger seat. "Because they will probably be the last ones we spend together," he muttered darkly and got into the car as well.

Veronica smiled, that way she used to smile when she had looked at Duncan, ages ago. "Hey, I don't mind dating a guy that rides a bike," she said softly and Logan had to hold back a gag reflex and not for the first time in that long night. First back in Tijuana when he was starting to sober up and then later when he had to listen to Troy sweet talk Veronica into coming to get them over the phone. Especially at the end when he had mentioned something about her being naked.

And he chose to ignore that his mind flashed to a naked, tiny blond girl going skinny dipping in the moonlight _or_ his body's reaction to just that vision.

It didn't mean anything.

Troy glanced at her, serious. "How do you feel about a guy who's being sent to Catholic school in Albuquerque?"

Veronica's smile vanished instantly as she stared at him for a moment. "What?"

Troy sighed and looked away. "If Dad's gonna hear about that that's where I'll be heading to at the end of the week."

"But how…"

Logan grinded his teeth. "Not to disturb tender moments here but could we please hit the road finally?" he asked impatiently.

Veronica sent a glare back at him via the rear mirror but she did ignite the motor and started to pull away, finally leaving that damn bar behind.

"Thanks," Logan said sarcastically.

Another glare, but Veronica then glanced at her boyfriend again. "How can you be so sure about…"

Troy shrugged, glancing back at her. "Dunno, could be him poking his finger into my face and telling me that the next time I screw up, he's going to send me to Catholic school in Albuquerque?" he asked sarcastically.

She frowned as she concentrated onto the road, pulling up onto the highway back to Neptune.

"Next time?" she asked after a moment, her eyes onto the road.

"Huh?" Troy asked.

"You said next time you screw up. What does that mean?"

Logan knew that tone. He had heard it enough over the last year. Mistrust. Looked like Ronnie was starting to open her eyes – or rather said, loosing the pink glasses.

About time.

"Look, it has been a long day, okay? I don't want to talk about this right now but just enjoy my last few moments in freedom," Troy told her with a trace of annoyance in his voice.

Veronica didn't say anything, but Logan knew her well enough to know that she wasn't amused.

For a while, they rode in silence, with Logan shifting from time to time to find a more comfortable position. Seriously, where had that car been build? In Lilliputian?

"So, other than this rather unfortunate ending, did you boys have fun in TJ?" Veronica eventually asked, awfully cheery.

Luke laughed. "Haven't you ever been in Tijuana? It's one long, never ending ride," he told her.

Unable to stop himself, Logan snorted. "Yeah right."

Veronica Mars in Tijuana?

Not in a million years.

"Once."

At first he thought he had heard wrong as his eyes narrowed onto the back of her head. What?

"When?" he demanded to know.

She cut her eyes to him, briefly, but didn't offer an answer.

He frowned. "Come on, Ronnie. You can't tell us such a thing and then expect us to believe it if you don't follow up with evidence. You should know that best, shouldn't you, Nancy?"

Their eyes met. "Summer last year. Lilly and I told you guys and everyone we'd make a trip to Palm Springs to go visit her cousin Marianne." She grinned. "And we did – but it was just a short stop to pick up Marianne."

Logan gaped at her.

Veronica smiled sweetly. "There are pictures, if you absolutely need to see them also."

"You and Lilly went to Tijuana? And never told us about it?" he asked, offended.

She shrugged. "Lilly wanted to see what all the hype is that you always made over your trips South."

Logan looked away. Now, that seemed like something Lilly would have done. He remembered that weekend. He and Duncan had made a long boy's night over the weekend while their girls had been away, leaving them back all alone. They had had fun, sure, but… why the hell had Lilly not made the trip with him? They had talked about her coming with him one day.

And _Ronnie_? Their sweet, innocent Ronnie in Tijuana?

"Hey Veronica? Can't you turn on the radio a bit?" Luke asked, slipping deeper into his seat.

"What am I? You're DJ?" she asked back.

"Jeez, what's your problem, Veronica? It was just a question," Luke protested, rolling his eyes.

Logan looked back just in time to see the muscles on Veronica's neck tensing. He frowned. Then though, she relaxed again and reached out to turn on the radio.

It started to blur out the tunes of 'Ain't No Mountains High Enough'.

Logan's breath stopped and Veronica's grip on the wheel visibly tightened.

Shit.

_(Flashback)_

"_This trip gonna be so great!" Lilly exclaimed, practically hopping in her seat._

"_It better be, because if Dad ever gets wind of it, this will have been the last fun I've seen until I turn thirty," Veronica muttered and shook her head. "Why do I let you keep talking me into such things?"_

"_Because you love me and can't resist to spend a weekend with fabulous me?"_

"_Not to forget me," Logan piped up from the front seat, turning his head to grin at Ronnie._

"_And this way, you and Duncan can cuddle all you want without Celeste glowering over you all the time," Lilly added, winking at her best friend._

"_Lilly!" Veronica protested, blushing. But she did smile at her boyfriend, smiling back at her from the passenger seat._

"_Hey, you can't blame me for telling the truth as it is," Lilly laughed, mischief sparkling in her eyes._

"_Yeah, but you could not be referring to me and Veronica… well… I mean, I'm your brother, shouldn't you be too grossed out to even think about…" Duncan asked, shaking his head as he waved at him and Veronica._

"_Why should I, it's not as if you two ever get over first base?" Lilly asked innocently._

_Logan laughed as Duncan and Ronnie both yelled "Lilly!", blushing deeply. It was true enough after all. _

"_Besides, where would be the fun if I can't tease my best friend and my little brother about their non existent sex life?" Lilly added gleefully. _

"_Okay, that's it. One more word, Lilly, and I swear we'll turn around," Duncan grumbled._

_Lilly rolled her eyes. "Sure we will. That's why Logan's driving, my very personal sex slave. You really think you can get him to turn around when I've promised him a very special award for each hour he has to drive?" she asked coyly as she ran a finger over Logan's neck._

"_God Lilly!" Duncan groaned, making a face._

_Logan shook his head, grinning from ear to ear. "Nope, never going to happen," he confirmed wholeheartedly while he tried to keep down his body's reaction to Lilly's touch and words. _

"_Explain to me again why we set a major covert up operation in action so we can make a trip to Coos Bay?" Veronica changed the topic. "A place neither of us has ever heard of?"_

"_Hey, it's at the Pacific and their homepage declares it as the most romantic side this side of the Ocean," Lilly lectured her._

"_Uh-hu. And they never exaggerate on their homepage," Veronica said sarcastically._

"_Plus, we're going to see a regatta. We've never seen a regatta, just zillions of surf competitions or motor boat races. And it's not just a regatta, it's the World Cup. Which means there will be millions of people, all having one big, great party," Lilly pointed out._

"_We don't know that," Duncan reasoned._

_Sighing in exasperation, Lilly threw up her arms. "No Donut, but then, aren't we famous for the parties we can create just between the four of us? Trust me, this trip will gonna be a blast, one way or another."_

"_She does have a point, DK. No one understands to party like Lilly and me," Logan agreed, chuckling._

"_Exactly! So, I'm bored by talking. Turn on the radio, Logan!" Lilly told Logan, giving him a clap onto his shoulder._

_As soon as he had switched it on, three of them groaned while Lilly squealed with delight upon hearing the first tunes of 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough'. _

"_Ohhhh, my absolute favorite song! That's a good sign. Come on Veronica, let's sing!" Lilly beamed, grabbing Veronica's hand. _

"_Uh Lilly," Veronica started to protest but didn't come any further. _

"_Veronica, we don't have time for this now! You gonna sing or I'll tell Duncan about a certain ice-cream incident, understood?" Lilly told her with a firm glance Duncan's way._

_Logan raised an eyebrow as he watched as Veronica, having turned red once again, muttered something but then joined Lilly to sing the second voice._

_He definitely had to ask Lilly about that ice-cream thing later on, he thought as he listened to the both girls singing along the song._

_(End Flashback)_

Logan was snapped out of his memories by the music abruptly changing to electronic, melancholic music. Depeche Mode as he recognized a moment later.

"Hey! I liked that song!" Luke protested.

"My car, my music. You got a problem with that, you're free to tramp. Or you can walk, don't care," Veronica said icily.

Luke grumbled and slipped even deeper into his seat.

"Hey, everything's okay?" Troy asked, looking strangely at her.

"I'm fine," Veronica snapped, then sighed. "I just… don't like that song," she said softly.

"Or is seriously pms-ing," Luke muttered under his breath, barely hearable for Logan.

Logan looked away, forcing his hands to relax. No… not pms-ing. Just remembering another trip, happier times.

The trip to Coos Bay had been in early September last year. The last trip the four of them had made and it had been a blast, just like Lilly had predicted. One week later, Lilly and Logan had broken up. Two weeks later, Duncan had broken up with Ronnie. Four weeks later, Lilly had been murdered.

Sighing, he closed his eyes, whishing they just were back home finally. He had known, this wasn't a good idea. Getting into a car with Ronnie just had been bound to bring up memories he didn't want to deal with right now.

* * *

Half an hour into the drive, Luke had fallen asleep. Not ten minutes later, Troy had followed. A glance into the rearview mirror had shown that Logan too had his eyes closed, but she wasn't sure if he really was asleep or if he was pretending to avoid this awkward ride.

Hadn't it been bad enough that they were forced to ride together? But no, as soon as she had turned on the radio _that_ song had to play. Out of the million and million songs and that had been the one. One of Lilly's favorite, the one Lilly had always forced her to sing along, just like back on their trip to Coos Bay. Their last trip together before the shit hit the fan, first with Logan and Lilly, then with her and Duncan and then…

She had seen Logan's eyes going wide, his jaw clenching. She knew he had remembered as well. And from the annoyance she had been able to read on his face, she guessed he was as unhappy about the memory coming up as she was.

Then again, ever since homecoming she was having more and more flashbacks. Nothing that could tell her anything about her murder, just all the many times her and Lilly and the boys had been together. What disturbed her a bit was that a good deal of those memories was of Logan and her. Them doing the homework together, or rather said, her trying to do homework and he trying to do anything but homework, them going to the cinema together in the early years, entertaining her with biting little real stories out of Hollywood, him accompanying her when she went out with Back-Up. It was as if her sub-conscious was trying to remind her that he had been her friend. As if she didn't knew that!

The problem was that he had forgotten all about it, turned his back on her. It didn't matter that he hadn't done or said anything against her since homecoming. The last year had happened, their friendship was gone. No doubt about that.

Right?

Sighing, Veronica stretched her neck a bit to all sides and glanced at the watch, making a face. They barely had made half of the way yet. Alone that thought brought her to yawn, long and big. She hadn't had much sleep, not the previous night and certainly not this night. All weekend she had followed a cheating husband around while their client had left town to go visit her parents, waiting for the shot that would prove his infidelity and ensure them a good thousand bucks. Tonight finally she had gotten him with his affair, once again in the Camelot. One could think the men of Neptune would grow more imaginative to meet their none-spouses hot little chicks for a quick romp in the sheets, but then, it did make the life of a P.I. a lot easier. They'd get the money and God knew it was much needed. Her sleep though had definitely come too short and tonight, she had barely fallen asleep when Troy's call had come.

Having driven through down to the border to pick up the boys and then make the way back without any stop either was starting to take its toll.

Promptly, she yawned again.

"Want me to drive for a while?"

Startled, her eyes flew to the rearview mirror to find two brown eyes watching her out of an unreadable face. The voice had sounded soft enough though, lacking any venom or sarcasm.

"Nah, it's okay. I'm good to drive for a bit longer," she answered quietly.

Logan shrugged. "Fine with me."

Veronica had to yawn again and she could see Logan frowning. "I'd just appreciate it if you rather let me drive before you land us all in the hospital. I doubt this joke of a car would survive a crash, let alone the poor bastards trapped in it."

"Better a shabby joke of a car than a canary of a car," Veronica remarked dryly.

"Aw, Ronnie, now you're hurting my feelings. Not to mention the X-Terra's," Logan sighed sadly.

"I'm crushed with guilt," she mocked, rolling her eyes. Seeing the sign for a service station soon coming up, she quickly checked on gas. Yep, she'd better take this one. Along with a big black strong coffee that probably was going to taste like bale water.

"You should be," Logan answered earnestly and noticed her slowing down. "Changed your mind?"

"I think even you are familiar with the concept of cars running out of gas and that they need to be refilled occasionally," Veronica told him.

"Ah, fishing for a free refill? Sorry, not going to happen, at least not on my tab."

Suddenly tired, Veronica just shrugged. "Whatever, Logan."

She could see him frowning, but she forced her eyes to keep on the road while she saw the exit for the service station. Turning on the indicator, she left the highway, soon pulling up in front of the gas station. With a sigh, she drew the key out of the ignition and got out of the car, stretching, not able to help the yawn. She glanced at Troy and Luke, both still sleeping deeply – and at least in Luke's case, soundly. Logan stared down, not looking at her. Fine with her. She moved over to the tank, unlocked the flap and then turned to take the gas filler.

When she turned back, Logan was gone. Frowning, she looked around and spotted him heading over to the shop.

Pushing the filler in, she started to pump gas. "Sure, no problem, thanks for letting me know. And so nice of you to ask if you could perhaps bring something along for me," she muttered under her breath, having no idea why she was so annoyed by his behavior. It wasn't after all that she wasn't used to it by now. She still was, though. "See if I ever do you a favor again," she continued to babble.

Though technically, she had done Troy, her boyfriend a favor, not Logan, when she had agreed to come pick them up. If Logan had called her, she would have laughed her ass off and then would have wished him a nice journey back, going back to peaceful sleep. Of course, first hell would have had to freeze over before Logan would have called _her_.

Tapping her foot impatiently, she watched as the gas number slowly climbed while the price number shot higher and higher. After an eternity, or so it seemed, the tank was finally full and relieved, she pulled the filler out, rehooked it.

Logan still wasn't back.

With a sigh, she went around the car and bowed down to snatch up her bag. She turned and had to stifle a little yelp as all of a sudden, Logan was standing behind her. Actually, she was glad that she had the car in her back, otherwise she probably would have jumped at least two feet high and back. Logan would never have let her live it down.

"There a special reason why you mastered to sneak up on a poor innocent girl like me like that?" she asked

"Poor? Definitely nailed that one. Innocent?" Logan snickered. "My ass, you really think you can still fool me? Hmm…" He shook his head while he held out a cup towards her.

It was only then that she noticed the two steaming cups in his hands. Mistrustfully, she stared at it, before her eyes rose up to meet his, arching an eyebrow.

Again, Logan shook his head. "Gee, Ronnie, it's called coffee. And pure self-preservation. As it is, I happen to like to stay alive, with all body parts intact. You don't want me to drive? Fine. But you keep yawning and in my experience, that leads to eyes falling close and before you know it, hello Petri!"

Veronica still didn't take it though. Call it a matter of principle.

Logan sighed, suddenly looking tired himself. "Just take the damn coffee, Ronnie."

She thought about refusing again, but something in his voice made her reach out and slowly take the coffee. "Thanks," she muttered.

"You're welcome," Logan replied sarcastically and climbed back onto the back seat.

Blowing a little air into the steaming brew, she carefully took a sip. It was still hot, but what made her eyes to fly open was the unmistakable taste of a cappuccino. While she probably would have picked up a strong, black one, cappuccino was her favorite type of coffee, especially when the coffee was a bit stronger as usual, like with this one.

Unable to stop himself, she turned to stare at Logan, who sipped his own coffee, not sparing one glance her way. Was this coincidence or… Had Logan really remembered her favorite brand and therefore had ordered it for her? Was that even possible? Two weeks ago she'd have said no. He may remember it, but he probably would have ordered anything than that if he'd bring himself to buy her coffee at all. Now? She just didn't know anymore.

"You know, as perfectly understandable it is that you're drawn to stare and ogle at me, I think we both agree that the faster we're back and ending this trip of hell, the better. So why don't you reserve your staring for your lunch breaks and finally get behind the wheel so we can hit the road again?" Logan asked without looking up.

Immediately, she opened her mouth to retort a dozen different things. Instead though, she bit her tongue and neighed her head to the side, smiling. "You forget something. I still need to pay for the gas. As much as I wish it were, but unfortunately, it's not for free, you know," she said and turned to head over to the shop.

"It's already taken care of," Logan's quiet voice stopped her though.

Veronica stopped midstep and turned back to look at him. "What?" She frowned deeply. "What happened to no free refills on your tab?"

"It was more efficient that way," Logan said evadingly and shrugged, glancing over at her with a haughty grin. "Besides, it's not as if I can't afford it. Actually, it's less than peanuts for me."

Slowly, Veronica walked back to her car and let her bag drop back in. She started to slip back into her seat when she stopped and instead turned to face him. "I don't need your charity, Logan!"

Sighing, he closed his eyes. "I know, Ronnie," he said in a soft voice she hadn't heard him use in a year. When his eyes opened again to bore into hers, they were honest, no trace of malice in them. "And it's not. You drove all the way down to come get us and now back to Neptune." He looked away, crossed his arms over his chest. "The least we can do is pay for the gas."

Flabbergasted, she stared at him for a moment longer. Had Logan just _thanked_ her in his own, twisted way?

Taking a deep breath, she nodded once in gratitude, then finally got into the driver seat and started the car.

Logan was right. The sooner this trip was over, the better. Because honestly, she wasn't sure how much more Twilight Zone she could bear.

* * *

Having slipped deeper into the seat and using his jacket as a pillow, Logan once again pretended to sleep like the two other boys did.

As if he could ever find sleep while riding in the back of Veronica Mars' car.

It just was a lot easier to bear the tension between them like that. He wasn't sure what exactly was this tension, if it was that two enemies had to share the same tiny, confined space, if it were the memories they both were fighting to come up or if it was that they simply were both unsure where they stood now.

The one big million dollar question.

So far, on this short ride, he was feeling a constant mixture of annoyance, anger, amusement and – and that was what troubled him – mild concern. Right before she had pulled out to refill her tank he had been able to tell that she was having a crisis. He knew the signs of a tired Veronica Mars and they all had been there. Her cringing her neck one way or another, her hands never standing still but roaming over the wheel, the slumped way of her shoulders even though she straightened them again and again, also her changing the music to more lively rock, then a little good old swing and finally, her big, long yawns.

She was dead tired on her feet and he guessed her having to drive so long didn't help and in fact only added to her exhaustion. And already, before he had known it, he had offered to drive. Pure self-preservation, nothing else. He _hadn't_ done it out of concern for one Veronica Mars.

No way.

Of course she had refused. At least that didn't surprise him. When she had pulled out for the gas station, he really had thought for a moment that she wanted to con herself into a free refill. Until her tired 'whatever'. Only then had he strained his neck to glance at her tank indicator – and seen that she just plainly was nearly out of gas and needed a refill. The part of him that had reined him for the past year still had waited for her asking him for money until she had pulled up and simply went to refill, never uttering one word of money or anything else for that matter. By then, a part of him he had thought was dead, buried along with Lilly and Veronica's following betrayal, had fought its way back to the front and took over, leaving Logan with the absolute certainty that no matter what, Veronica Mars was never going to ask him for money. She never had, not once, in all the years they had been friends, usually protesting when either of them had treated her for anything, even Duncan, her own boyfriend and Logan was sure that now, she would even less ever ask him to pay for anything.

The next thing he had known was that he had jumped out of her car and had headed over to the shop. In there, he had ordered their coffees and waited until he had seen that she was finished with pumping the gas before he paid for everything, coffee and gas.

She was driving eight hours straight for doing them a favor. Well, technically Troy, but still. He didn't like to owe her anything and this way, he was back to being even with her. It had nothing to do with his old way to simply pay for her, despite her protests.

Really.

The coffee though… That one he couldn't deny. It had everything to do with their past, otherwise he hardly would have gotten her her Ronnie special. His intention had been to buy her simple, straight coffee, but before he could help it, he had ordered the Ronnie special, not even thinking about it. Cappuccino with a half third more coffee than usual.

He didn't like it.

Veronica Mars and he no longer were friends. Perhaps not straight out enemies anymore either, but still… He wasn't supposed to remember the way she liked her coffee. Or to be able to read her body language that well. Or to notice and recognize almost every emotion flying over her face.

Like her suspicion and reluctance to accept the coffee. Or her startled reaction to her discovery of just what kind of coffee he had gotten her. Or her anger when she had thought he had paid for her gas out of pity.

As if. True, he had felt a lot of different emotions towards Veronica in the years since he knew her, but never, not once, had it been pity. Never for her not having as much money as the rest of them, not when Duncan had broken up with her without no reason, at least not one he knew of and not even when one day, he had brought her home and had gone in with her because they wanted to work on a history assignment and Logan had finally found out why perfect, innocent Veronica Mars sometimes had that knowing, aged look in her eyes when a beyond drunken Lianne had greeted them and all Veronica had done was sighing and proceeded to expertly take care of her mother and the mess she had made, simply asking Logan with a look to leave.

He had left, never mentioning the incident to her or anyone else again. But he had _known_ from then on, understood.

Just like with him, her perfect life wasn't quite as perfect as it seemed. She too had secrets.

Until Logan brutally used that sensitive bit of information to mercilessly haunt her, hurt her.

He never had claimed not to be a jackass. But that had been low, even for him and he knew that. And that old part of him that kept resurfacing lately cringed with guilt over it. Because instinctively he knew, even if Veronica knew his big, dark secret, she'd never had used it against him. Like she never had used one or two things which she did know about him and with what she could have revenged him for his digs at her mother.

Then again, it was wide knowledge that Veronica Mars was a far better person than Logan Echolls. And though he knew the rumors now sounded different, that still was the case. Though he had yet to betray a friend.

But then, had it really been…

No. Logan refused to even acknowledge that ridiculous thought. Not now, not ever.

God, would this ride never end? He thought grumpily and dared to glance at his surroundings from under his eyelids, trying to gauge where they were and how long it would take for him to finally be able to get out of this car.

To his surprise he found out that they were already at the outskirts of the 09er district. When had they left the highway? Had he been so absorbed by his thoughts or had he actually dosed off a minute or two?

Didn't matter. Deciding that it was safe to be 'awake' again, he stretched his arms a little. Something that didn't go unnoticed.

"Should I drop you off at home?" she asked quietly, sounding dead tired.

He shook his head. "No. We met up in front of Luke's house. My car's there."

She nodded and turned into direction of Luke's house at the next opportunity which did surprise him a bit. He hadn't known she had once known Luke enough to remember where he lived. Sitting up a bit straighter, Logan kicked against Luke's leg to wake him up, then proceeded to give the passenger seat a good kick also. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see Veronica glancing at him, but she said nothing.

The other boys stirred and yawned and stretched before taking a look around.

"Oh, we're already here?" Troy mumbled and looked at Veronica. "Sorry for sleeping all the way. You could have woken me up though."

She shrugged. "It's okay. I'm used to drive alone."

Logan frowned. Had that been a dig towards him? He wasn't sure, but he doubted it. She just was too tired to fire his way.

They turned into Luke's street and Logan had to suppress a sigh of relief when he saw his trusted car still waiting where he had parked it Friday. Not that there were many cars stolen out of this neighborhood but still, you could never know. Besides, this meant that this ride was finally, finally over.

Sure enough, Veronica pulled to a stop across the street from the X-Terra. Mumbling something, Luke climbed out and Logan too stood up, glad that his legs didn't cramp after the long ride in a too small space.

"Thanks for the ride," he told Veronica, only half sarcastically. "Does this mean you're gonna play nice now?" he added as he stepped out of her car.

Puzzled, Logan almost frowned. Now, where had that question came from?

Thankfully, Veronica seemed too tired to notice that this comment hadn't been as sarcastic as it should have been as her answer was a normal flippant one. "Walk in front of the car, we'll see."

Beside him, Luke laughs and even Logan couldn't help but smile a little – and took his chances by stepping in front of her car. The engine of the Le Baron roared up as Veronica revved it. Logan turned to look at her and caught her giving him a small grin, eyes sparkling mischievously. Totally forgetting that he was supposed to not be amused by her in a good way anymore, he grinned and slapped the bonnet of her car with his jacket.

Her smile widened.

A true, honest smile without any sarcasm, venom or anything like that in it, directed at him and him alone.

It caught his breath just like it reminded him of a million other smiles like that one that once had been sent his way.

Fuck it.

Quickly, he looked away, fixing his eyes onto the car. Dimly, he heard Luke asking if he could crash with him as he didn't want to wake his parents. He nodded and got into his car while Luke went around the car to get into the passenger seat. Only then did he dare to look back at the car in which he had spent the last four and a half hours. Veronica had turned to Troy, speaking with him.

Troy smirked at her.

Gripping his wheel, Logan looked away and floored the gas pedal, quickly driving away.

* * *

Veronica was frustrated. How hard could it be to find a stolen BMW? She was a P.I., wasn't she? And she was rather good? So why had she so much trouble to even find a hint where that damn car could have landed?

Okay, okay. Perhaps it wasn't that easy. After all, chances were high that the car had already been stripped. And it could as well be that the thief had taken it somewhere else than Neptune. That was why they needed that beacon activated.

She didn't want to loose Troy.

Her life had just, finally, gained back a bit of normalcy and she was determined to uphold it. She had a friend, she had a boyfriend, things with Logan were cooling down and hell, even her father had started dating again.

Of course, that was another thing. Her dad dating again. Worse, Miss James. Okay… she guessed she should have thought that her dad would sooner or later start to date again. Her mom had left them over a year ago, and her dad perhaps wasn't an Adonis – but he was still a catch. So it was only naturally, wasn't it? Right. But why had it to be her school psychologist? Miss James wasn't that bad, admitted, but still, Veronica had never liked how she had tried to snoop around in her life, ever since Lilly's death. And now she was even intruding her private life!

So no. She wasn't happy about hearing that her dad was dating again.

Then, there was this key she had found this morning in her mother's belonging. Interesting that her father chose this moment to put the rest of the reminders of her mother into storage now, wasn't it? Still, she hadn't wanted to go through the stuff but… in the end, she couldn't help herself. And had found that key.

It just didn't make any sense.

Why would her mother need a safe deposit box? She never had expensive jewelry, valuable art objects and hidden stashes of money were also highly unlikely. There was nothing Veronica could think of that her mother would need a safe deposit box for. And she hadn't hesitated even once to try to find out what was in that box. Now, it wasn't that easy to walk into a bank's safe without being the person who owned the box, even if you had the key. Unless you were a close relative of a deceased client. And it was so easy to forge a death certificate for one Lianne Mars Reynolds.

She was just doing that, when Luke suddenly appeared at her side, sweating all over her.

"Hey. You're helping Troy find his dad's car, right?" he asked, out of breath.

"You're sweating on me," she replied absentmindedly as she put the final finishes on the fake certificate.

Luke took a deep breath. "Look, I need your help. There's kind of more to this car thing than the… the car," he whispered and the nervousness in his voice brought Veronica to look at him. "There was a piñata full of steroids in the back seat. I… I did a run for Hank Zigmund. He owns the Zig-Zag Sports Club. I wanted to get pumped for Varsity baseball. I was… pretty much down for whatever," Luke continued, blushing a bit.

Now, wasn't this a wonderful irony with a touch of justice? Veronica looked back onto the screen, saving the document. "Including shrunken testicles and acne scars. Well, speaking for the women of America – Good plan!" A thought struck her and quickly, she pierced Luke with her eyes. "Wait. What did Troy and Logan know about this?" she demanded to know.

"Nothing, I swear," Luke assured her quickly. Too quickly. Veronica narrowed her eyes. Luke crumbled under the scrutiny of her glare in seconds. "Yeah, all right, Logan knew but he wasn't… he wasn't in on anything."

Veronica looked back to the computer and printed out the certificate. Why was there this little stab in her heart? After everything that had happened, she shouldn't be surprised that Logan knew about a drug run, tolerated it at least. It still did, though. She grinded her teeth together. "It doesn't matter anyway," she said and almost believed herself. "I don't help dealers find their lost products."

"Look, don't think of it like that, all right?" Luke pleaded her, desperately. "Think of it like you're saving my life, I mean the guy's built like a truck. He will…" He swallowed. "He will break one of my limbs."

Veronica sighed. That much was probably true enough. Perhaps, that Zigmund would even do something worse. And while she would have no problem to let a few people here at school walk directly into a knife – she didn't find it in herself to let Luke do that. Luke never had been an especial close friend but out of the 09er bunch, he was one of the rather decent guys. Stupid, but decent. Fuck. She glared at him. "If I were to help you, you would have to return the steroids and get your money back and then return the cash, not the drugs," she told him flat out.

Relieved, Luke straightened back up. "Yeah, I'll do whatever," he promised and there was only sincerity and fear in his eyes.

Great. Looked like she had to find a piñata full with steroids now as well. She too stood up and grabbed her freshly printed death certificate. "I'll figure something out," she told Luke. "Until then, just lay low," she instructed him and left him.

Before anything, she needed to go check the contents of that safe deposit box out.

* * *

"You've heard? Miss James was seen with Keith Mars the other day. They looked as if they had been on a date."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. Shelley saw them with her own eyes."

"What would a chick like Miss James want with Keith Mars?"

"Dunno. But if you ask me, Veronica's behind that. She probably talked her father into seducing Miss James though she wouldn't send her to the loony bin. I mean, everyone knows that Veronica Mars is as crazy as they come!"

"That's right. And anyway, now that that skunk has gone over to even seduce poor freshmen I bet even the board started to think about throwing her out. No wonder she desperately searched for a way to stay at school."

"Hell, I'm surprised she doesn't do Miss James herself!"

"Why don't you cut it out?"

So far, Logan had ignored the conversations around him and pretended to be enthralled with the comic he was reading, not participating in a bit more dishing of Veronica, nor saying anything to stop it. Though he had been tempted to, unexplainably. Even more reason to say nothing. But now that someone _had_ said something, he looked up.

"What?" Dick asked, staring at the guy that had dared to interrupt their lovely dishing.

Luke looked down, seemed to back down. But then, he raised his head once again to look at Dick. "I just think you guys are seriously overdoing it. Veronica isn't that bad."

"Isn't she?" Dick asked, stupefied.

Luke squared his shoulders. "No, she isn't." He looked at the shocked faces around him and for a moment it looked as if he was to back down after all. But no, he wasn't. "She keeps helping out the students here."

"Not for free, from what I heard," Sean pointed out. "I'm not sure if that accounts as 'helping'."

Luke ignored him. "And I don't know how it is with you, but I've yet to meet someone who actually had sex with her."

Dick laughed out loud. "Dude, seriously, who'd admit to have been in _that_? He'd never get another chick to let him score with her in fear of what he might have caught from that whore."

Logan's eyes narrowed.

For a moment, it looked as if Luke wanted to say something but then she simply shook his head and walked away.

"You believe that idiot? Wonder what Mars done to him to blind him like that?" Dick asked, cracking with laughter.

Logan rolled his comic up and stood up. "He's right though. It gets old and worse, it gets really boring to blame everything one possibly could on Veronica fucking Mars. Heaven knows I'm no fan of her, but seriously, get yourselves another topic."

He didn't bother to wait for one of the guys getting over his shock to say anything in return and just left after Luke, well aware that he had just unofficially issued a stop to the Veronica dishing that had reined this school for over a year. Instinctively. Oh, he wasn't deluding himself that he had just put a complete stop to it, but still, he was pretty sure that it would lessen considerably. He was Logan Echolls after all, one of the most influential ones of the 09er-kids, not to mention the initiator of the Veronica Mars hate campaign. If he wanted it to stop, most people would stop.

Of course he wasn't sure if he really wanted it to stop and his little speech had at least not been a full out residing with Veronica, merely a suggestion for them to find some new topics. And it was true, it really was getting boring to hear day in and day out what scandalous thing Veronica was supposed to have done or for which little catastrophe she was responsible now and if Logan hated one thing, then to be bored. Him speaking up in favor of Veronica, at least more or less, had absolutely nothing to do with that little stab of anger he had felt surging through his veins at Dick's harsh, dirty comments about Veronica. Nothing at all. In fact, it hadn't really disturbed him. He hadn't visualized shutting up Dick with a well placed right hook for a second there.

He _hadn't_!

Catching up with Luke, he fell into step with the other guy. "So… I guess Veronica promised to help you find your drugs, huh?"

Luke looked at him and sighed. "Reluctantly, but yeah, she agreed. And she didn't ask for money," he added, defiantly.

"Not yet," Logan muttered, but then, he wasn't sure if she really would ask Luke for money. After all, Veronica was already looking for Troy's car.

"Look, I know it's uncool to even think about taking Veronica's side, but she did come to get us, didn't she? And now, she does help me, even though she doesn't need to and frankly, wasn't too keen on helping a – drug dealer." He looked down at his feet. "She did though and she's probably saving my life with that," he added quietly, with a trace of fear in his voice.

Logan stopped and looked closer at Luke, noticing the paleness, the slightly haunted look in his eyes, his nervousness. He frowned. "In just how much trouble are you exactly?" he asked.

Luke sighed. "It's pretty big. Hank… Hank is not someone you mess around with." He shook his head. "If I don't get him the drugs back, or at least the money…" He swallowed.

Logan's frown deepened. He didn't like the sound of that. Even less did he like the real terror he could see Luke was feeling. And Luke had dragged _Ronnie_ into this mess? "Don't you think that's a bit over the head for Veronica?" he asked.

Luke shrugged. "She didn't seem to think so. Besides, she went after the PCHers and now they've been seen to help her out occasionally. I think she can handle Hank then."

Perhaps. It wasn't Logan's business anyway. But still… "Let me know if I can help out," he offered. "And feel free to crash over at my place, if you need to."

"Thanks man," Luke nodded and cast a nervous look around. "I better go. But could you give me a lift home after school, perhaps?"

Logan nodded and watched him go, standing there for a moment. Finally, with a sigh, he proceeded to his first class of the afternoon. Not thinking about a certain tiny blond one going after a load of steroids in order to save Luke from the bad guy.

Really not.

* * *

She simply didn't know what to think anymore.

First, the pictures Veronica had found in the deposit box. Pictures of her. With a target drawn over her face.

She had always believed that her mom just couldn't bear the loss of status anymore and had left because of that. But… If someone had sent her those pictures, then perhaps, her mother had left because she had to. To protect her. And that was perhaps why she never had contacted them, didn't dare to come back.

But why? Why would someone target her mother like that? She was a simple housewife and mother, the sheriff's wife. One who liked her vodka a bit too much. But that was no reason for someone to threaten her with her daughter's life. And why had she run instead of asking her husband for help? He had been the sheriff after all and if one could have dealt with this bastard, then it would have been him.

It didn't make any sense. Not one at all.

And now, Veronica just wasn't sure what to do. Her last try to find her mother had been a waste of time. But hell, she needed to find her! Now more than ever. She wanted answers. So many answers. But how?

Dad always told her that a person rarely cuts really all ties to his past. So perhaps… yeah! That could work! If she sent out untraceable cell phones to every old friend or relative of her mom Veronica knew of, then maybe one of them would reach her mom sooner or later. Letting her know that Veronica needed to talk to her and giving her a safe way to contact her. That was possible, wasn't it? It could work?

It had to!

Now, she just had to organize at least twenty cheap cell phones.

And then, all she could do was waiting.

Veronica sighed. She hated if all she could do was wait. Patience wasn't one of her virtues.

Then again, she still had to find Troy's car. And Luke's drugs.

Easier said than done.

She hadn't been able to activate the beacon for Troy's car, thanks to that bitchy boss woman interfering just when she had managed to convince her underling to do just that. Weevil was taking her to his uncle's car shop after school to see if the car's gone through there. He had assured her that if the car had been stripped and sent out again anywhere near Neptune, then it would have gone through there as his uncle was the best at his business.

Good to know.

All she had left to do now was interviewing the last suspect on the subject. Unfortunately, there were a million things she would rather do than do that, like go on a date with Clemmons to then turn to the school's favorite gossip center for at least a weak because Dick Casablancas caught them in the act.

Yep, that was how much she was looking forward to that. She would much more prefer to avoid the annoying jerk who just kept flooring her by his mixed and contrary actions. Like one minute acting like she's nothing and then go buy her her Ronnie special.

Making a face and letting out a deep, deep sigh, she slowly started to walk into the direction of his locker, assuming that he probably had went there to exchange his books like every other normal student – and hoping secretly that he was anywhere else, conjuring up some trouble or making someone else's life miserable. In fact, she hoped that he had skipped school today entirely, like a good little irresponsible 09er guy.

But no, of course, there he was, crouched down in front of his locker. Figures. Letting out another deep sigh, she put on her game mask, forced herself to a smile and started to walk, her eyes intent on her target.

Oh, this was going to be so much _fun_.

* * *

"Time for a chat?"

To say Logan was surprised that Veronica Mars had actually come on her own free will extra to his locker to _chat_ with him would be the understatement of the year. So no, he hadn't expected that. And boy, was he curious as to what he owned this dubious honor. But then, he had a feeling he was about to find out soon enough.

"Well," he drawled and stood up, grinning. "Think if hell froze over, maybe it'd be on the news."

Veronica smiled that way too sweet smile she had adapted a year ago. "I just wanna hear more about the steroids you bought last weekend," she asked innocently.

Then again, perhaps he shouldn't have been that surprised. She sure liked to blame him for the strangest things lately. First the theft of his own mother's credit cards, and now drugs? His eyes narrowed. "You mean the steroids _Luke_ bought," he corrected her. "Wow… You suck at this Nancy Drew stuff. You should get a new hobby," he told her coldly, never loosing his smile though.

But really… _drugs_? She thought he'd be so stupid to deal with drugs? She thought him capable of that?

Veronica's gaze never wavered. "So you knew he was doing it," she stated, her eyes boring into his.

What exactly was she after here? Whatever it was, she must be crazy if she thought that he would give her anything, let alone a single answer she was seeking. He smirked. "You actually think that I would tell you anything?" He shook his head. Her eyes narrowed, but then her eyes went past him, focusing on something else and somehow, that irritated him even more. If she wanted to accuse him of dealing drugs, then she could at least do that without getting distracted by whatever else. Really, that wasn't asked too much, was it? He looked back to see just what, or rather said who had gotten her attention and nearly scowled when he saw Troy heading towards them. Great. Just fucking great. With a smirk, he turned back to Veronica. "Hmm…" he let out and twirled a finger at her, "I guess we're done here, _Officer_." Her eyes cut to him and he was pleased to see her usual annoyance with him back in her eyes. Troy reached them, staring intently at his girlfriend as if she was the most amazing and beautiful creature walking this Earth. Yeah right. It was sickening. But instead of gagging, he whistled. "What's up, T?" he asked and then, playing with the football in his hands, made his escape.

That he walked right in between them, nearly having to shoulder his way through them, had absolutely no meaning. Or if, then only because this way he could give Veronica a hard stare and warn her off to never dare to approach him like that and with such a ridiculous accuse on top of that without her boyfriend seeing it. It had nothing to do at all with him just not liking the sight of the two together.

Nothing at all.

Annoyed, Logan absentmindedly through the football up and catching it again while he rounded the corner. Who did Veronica think she was, anyway? What gave her the right to walk around and interrogate God and the world, interrogate him? Okay, so she helped Troy find his car, Luke his drugs. It still gave her no right to go suspect _him_ of being so stupid to start mess with drugs. Really, she should know better. If he liked it or not, they had been friends for a long time, good friends. She _knew_ he wasn't into drugs. Knew that he for sure didn't need the money.

Or she should.

He caught some 09er-girls making a disgusted face, looking past him and he looked back, only to see Veronica and Troy walking by, his arm around her, their hands clasped together and she was smiling up at him dreamily. Ugh. It was disgusting he thought and turned back around. Still… his eyes flickered back to them, the picture of the perfect couple, just before they vanished out of his sight, thank God.

Yeah right.

Ronnie should know better. After all, she and Duncan had been the perfect couple so she really should know better than to think her and that idiot had anything real between them. Or any future together. Not just because of Troy's impending shipment off to a catholic boarding school – but because he doubted Ronnie had changed so much that she'd allow to be cheated and lied upon. And Troy did both of that.

Apparently though, Ronnie had yet to figure that out.

And no, he wasn't looking a bit too much forward to that time when she finally opened her eyes and saw Troy for what he was.

A blender.

An asshole.

Nope, not at all. And if… well, anything to hurt her was pleasing him, right?

* * *

Thanks to Weevil Veronica knew now that the car had been at his uncle's shop. Finding the piñata had been surprisingly easy. No wonder. After all, the drugs had been replaced. Of course it could be that one of the mechanics at Weevil's uncle's garage had found and taken it. But… Veronica didn't believe that. From the way it had sounded, his mechanic, Mario, had found it and immediately taken it for his daughter's birthday, never checking the contents. Which meant that the drugs must have been swept before that. Of course someone could have found the drugs in between the time he had found the piñata and then had left for home with it after work. But why would someone have the idea to check the piñata for drugs and then even bother to replace the drugs with sweets?

No, it just didn't work that way. Whoever had taken the drugs had known they were there in the first place – and had exchanged them with sweets though Luke wouldn't notice the difference.

And unfortunately, _that_ left only three suspects. Luke, Logan and Troy. According to Luke, Troy had no idea about the drugs. That left Logan and Luke. But when she had confronted Luke, he had seemed completely clueless about why the drugs weren't in the piñata anymore. And she believed him. Luke wasn't especially the brightest guy so she doubted that he could lie and act that well.

But that left only Logan.

Problem was, she just couldn't believe that it had been Logan. That he'd be so fucking stupid. Oh, he certainly was clever and sneaky enough to make such a convincing and so far undiscovered swept, but so stupid to deal with drugs? First, he didn't need the money. And sure, she knew that from time to time, he took a little of a designer drug here and there, but he wasn't into drugs, never had been. And dealing drugs? Steroids? She just couldn't see it.

And…

To be honest: She didn't want it to be Logan. He had just started to… oh she didn't know, but things had slightly ameliorated since homecoming and him turning out to be a drug dealer now… But had it really been him? Perhaps some fourth party had stolen the drugs.

No. That was unlikely. And of the three, Logan had been the only one who hadn't left his duffel in the car. No, he had taken it with him. And there would have been enough place for him to hide the drugs in it.

But still… Why would he do something so incredibly stupid? It just wasn't like him. Besides, when she had talked with him earlier on, she had seen the anger in his eyes when she had implied that he had anything to do with the drugs. He could be quite the actor, but he wasn't that good. This anger had been real and also that shimmer of hurt she had seen flash through his anger, causing her to feel slightly guilty. Not that she really had believed it was him, but she just had to interrogate him as well. He had been there, had the intelligence to pull something off like that.

And now… now she was sure that he had nothing to do with it. Sure, he had known about the drugs and tolerating it, and hell, knowingly cross the border with a drug dealer in the car had been incredible stupid, but that was his only crime.

That meant though that she was out of suspects.

But Troy.

Her heart screamed in denial even at the mere thought… but then, her heart had been long ago shattered to pieces, thanks to Duncan and everything else. There was no rely on it anymore. It had been wrong with Duncan, had been wrong with Logan and the rest of her friends and it even had been wrong with her own mother. So why shouldn't it be wrong again?

According to Luke, Troy had no idea about the drugs. But there was that file her father had given her. She was still ashamed that she had busted into her dad's life like she had, running Ms James, making a file of her. She had seen how much that breach of trust had hurt her father and she could understand it now. It still hadn't stopped her from reading the file though.

Very interesting lecture, indeed. Kicked out of no less than two schools for drug possession and trafficking. Not to mention his constant partner in crime, Shauna. That was one wild girl – and totally still into the business and the drugs from what she had gathered after a quick check of the girl.

Now, who was the most likely suspect?

Of course, when she had confronted Troy with her little finding outs about his past, he had brought up a valuable point: that perhaps he wouldn't want to fall into the house with his not so bright past when he barely knew someone for a month, even when he was going out with her. That was true. It wasn't as if she had ever mentioned her rape to him either, was it? You just didn't talk about such things that early in a relationship.

Still…

She just couldn't trust him anymore, not now. Not with knowing that he was the only one of the three suspects that made sense. The only one about whose innocence she wasn't sure. Luke was too stupid to pull off something like that. Logan didn't do it either. And Troy… Motif, smart and sneaky enough to pull it off and…

Yeah well, that was the problem. The opportunity. She hadn't figured out yet when he could have done it and that was the only thing in his favor so far. Luke hadn't been very helpful when she had carefully asked him any questions into that direction. Not too surprisingly. But she needed to know the truth. If Troy was the one who had taken the drugs, she wanted to know it. So she needed to figure out how he could have done it.

Unfortunately, she needed help in order to figure it out. And sadly, there was only one person she could think of who might have the answers she seeked.

The chance that he would give her those answers though was nothing to no way in hell. That much he had made clear in their earlier 'chat'.

Then though… she hadn't imagined the Ronnie special. And there was something else she may use to convince him to help her figure it out.

Still… Him even giving her the time of day was highly unlikely, let alone him giving her a few answers or even helping her.

She sighed. But she would try it anyway. She already had one relationship hanging over her head without her getting any closure. There was no way she would allow to let another one join that one, even if it meant to deal with the devil himself.

So… hell it was.

* * *

When he saw Veronica leaning against his car, his driver door none the less, Logan almost laughed. Wow… two days in a row. One could get the idea she just couldn't be without him anymore.

Ha, ha, he thought sarcastically.

"Have more questions for me, Officer?" he asked with a smirk.

Calmly, she nodded. "In fact, yeah, I have."

Logan shrugged and beeped his car open. "Sorry, Officer, but unless you have a warrant, I do not have to answer anything. And if you have," he stopped and winked at her, "… well, then I'd have a right to call my lawyer and still won't have to answer any questions of you."

Veronica nodded. "True. But you could do yourself a favor and prove your innocence by not acting like a jerk and simply answer a few questions."

Logan's eyes narrowed. "I, Veronica, have to do absolutely nothing, especially anything you want me to do. So why don't you save your breath and go annoy your boyfriend?"

She sighed heavily. "As much fun as this is, no, I won't. Not unless you give me what I want."

Shaking his head, Logan gave her a single, cold glare. "Move it, Veronica."

Not too surprisingly, she shook her head though. "No. Not before I know what I need to know."

Logan arched an eyebrow up. "And how exactly are you planning to do that? Beat it out of me? Seduce me into telling you all my dark secrets? Using mind reading powers?" he asked with a smile, but then grew serious. "We both know it's not going to happen, none of it, Veronica. So move it, now, before I move you."

She didn't flicker, nor move even an inch. Her eyes though bored into his. "Can you think of an opportunity when Troy could have swapped the drugs with sweets to then hide them somewhere?"

That threw him off and he frowned. "What?"

Her face was unreadable as she kept staring at him intently. "Troy. Think back, Logan. When could he have taken the drugs? And where could he have hid them?"

Slowly, her words sank in and he stared at Veronica in disbelieve. "You think Troy took the drugs?" he asked, incredulous.

Sure, he didn't like the guy, not one bit, but seriously – stealing drugs?

Her face closed off even more, if that was possible and finally, she looked away. Standing still, he watched as she bit her lip like she always did when she tried to bring herself to do something she didn't really want to do. He had seen her doing that hundred of times during their friendship. When she looked back at him, the mask was still in place. Her eyes though showed reluctance, determination and… and something else.

"I know you didn't take the drugs," she said quietly. "I never really believed you did. You're stupid, but you're not that stupid."

He frowned. Well, that he surely hadn't expected. Still… "Gee, thanks for your vote of confidence," he said sarcastically, but… there was something that eased deep inside him at hearing her saying that.

"I follow the evidence, Logan, no matter what," she said and her voice was barely above a whisper. "The evidence in this case points to you. You knew about the drugs, you were the only one who took his duffel with him into the bar and you're the only one who didn't loose anything on your little trip."

Confused, his frown deepened. What the hell…

"But I know you, Logan, and therefore I know you didn't take those drugs." She took a deep breath and part of her mask slipped away as her eyes dropped away. "Luke's too stupid and afraid to pull something like that. That leaves Troy. Knowing his history, it makes even more sense for him to have taken the drugs. Two problems though." She slowly looked up at him again. "First, according to Luke, he had no idea about the drugs. And second, so far I haven't heard of him having an opportunity to take them." She made a pause, her eyes never leaving his. "So that's why I'm here. I need you to remember the time from the moment Luke got into the car with the piñata until the time you found out that the car was stolen."

Logan said nothing, couldn't for the moment. He was too stunned that Ronnie had actually come to him for help. Because she trusted him – well, in some twisted way at least. That was… unusual, new. Sure, once that wouldn't have been so surprising, but nowadays? Very strange. And what history of Troy's did she mean? None the less, his mind was already trying to remember the trip back.

A sigh of hers interrupted his tumbling thoughts though. "Look, I know you don't like Troy much. And Heaven knows you hate me and helping me. But why don't you look at it like that you can get one at Troy and me at the same time because I'll even do you the favor and let you know that I really don't draw any joy out of proving that my boyfriend's a drug dealer who lied to me and probably on top of it all cheated on me. So give me those damn answers and enjoy knowing that I hate to have to do this and come to you for help of all people and then you can go and exploit that knowledge and the fact that all I could score up for me is a lousy drug dealer for the coming weeks all you want. Everyone's happy and got what he wanted like that."

His eyes settled on her as he took in her words. She was right with one thing. He didn't like Troy. But… she was wrong when she thought it pleased him to see her so bitter and – hurt. Though, if he wanted to be absolute honest: Two weeks ago, before homecoming, she would have been dead right about her assumptions. Of course, she didn't need to know that. In fact, it probably was for the better if he let her believe what she wanted.

"I don't know about Troy knowing about the drugs. For all I can tell he never suspected that the piñata wasn't quite your usual piñata." He frowned, trying to figure it out. "Luke's a talker though when he's drunk and I wasn't always with the other two, if you get my drift. Could be that he said something to Troy and now doesn't remember it anymore. As for the opportunity…" He shook his head. "Not until we pulled up in front of that bar. No stops until then."

"And at the bar?" she wanted to know.

He shrugged. "Could be, though…" He stopped as he remembered something. "Well, he went to the bathroom."

"For how long?"

Logan shook his head. "Look, I didn't especially take notes or a special interest into your boy's pissing habits."

Her eyes narrowed. "No duh… just try to remember if it's been short or perhaps a bit longer."

Letting out a tormented sigh, Logan thought back once again. Him and Luke had been talking about the hooker he had scored back in the VIP lounge in one of the bars when Troy had come back. But when had he excused himself? Not sure, but he was pretty sure it was before he and Luke started to talk about their conquests. "A while," he finally settled on.

For a moment, her mask slipped again but she hurriedly slammed it back into place, even more expressionless. "Long enough for him to re-park the car, swap the drugs and then hide them?"

He raised an eyebrow. So she thought he had stolen his own car too? Well, his father's… Interesting. "Sorry, but that I can't say. Perhaps, perhaps not. If yes, he must have been very swift."

She waited a few seconds, before she nodded. "Thanks," she said quietly, then squared her shoulders, holding up her head a bit higher. "Now have fun with trashing it around school," she added sarcastically and finally got out of the way between him and his car, walking away in big strides – well, as big as they could be for a pixy like her.

Logan looked down and his fingers twitched as he cursed himself inwardly. "Ronnie!"

Slowly, she stopped before she hesitantly looked back at him. "Trust me. You're better off without that asshole," he forced out between grinded teeth.

He didn't want to say that. It was true, but she didn't need to know that he thought that. But… she had been the one to help him with finding out Caitlin's true colors and had more or less let him know as much back then. It was only fair if he returned that favor now. After all, he didn't like to owe Veronica Mars anything. They were even now.

Surprise let her mask slip as she slowly nodded, her eyes cautiously looking back into his. Then she turned back around and continued to stalk over the parking lot.

He thought though that he heard her whisper another thanks.

Pushing that away, he finally got into his car, but instead of driving off like he had intended too, he just sat there for a moment, contemplating what had just happened there between him and Ronnie. His eyes drifted into the direction and sure enough, there she still was. Having stopped not by her car, but by Weevil who already sat on his bike, ready to roar off. She talked to him and laughing, he shook his head then handed her a spare helmet. Logan's eyes narrowed as he watched her putting it on and then climbing onto the bike behind Weevil. And already, they were roaring out of the parking lot.

What the hell was Ronnie doing going off with Weevil on his goddamn bike?

* * *

Angrily, Veronica stared at the packet in her hand.

Why? Why had it had to be Troy? The one guy she thought she could maybe trust. The one guy she had started to fallen for, thinking that maybe, maybe he could be the one to chase away the invisible hands constantly groping her, hurting her and those images of a faceless man forcing himself on her, into her.

She may not remember anything about that night, about the bastard who raped her – but it didn't stop her from having nightmares. From having been afraid of what would happen if Troy wanted to go farther than just second base.

And all of that in vain. She had worried about Troy's reaction and all that time he…

Her shoulders sagging she slipped down the wall and brought her knees close to her, resting her head on her arms. Boy, she really knew how to pick them. The first kicked her aside without ever giving her an explanation and the second turns out to be a drug dealer who lied and had cheated on her with his partner in crime/possible girlfriend/definite fucking buddy.

Still… even know, having found the proof of his infidelity and crimes in a dirty bathroom in a shabby bar just this side of the border she wasn't as angry or hurt as she thought she was. Should be. Truth was that while she had liked Troy, she never had really opened her heart for him. And had she liked him for him – or just because he gave her something she hadn't even realized she had cringed for? Attention, interest – loyalty. Or so she had thought. She had been intrigued by him, a 09er, going after her, wanting to be with her, despite all the things Logan and Co had spread about her. He had wanted her, wanted to go out with her and until she had gone onto her first date with him she hadn't even realized how much she really had missed this – despite her terrible experiences.

She had been blind. No worse: she had chosen to be blind, refused to see behind the farce, to acknowledge that Troy was a bit too good naturedly to be real, to question his actions, to recognize the little tell tale signs.

And that when she had sworn to herself to not let herself be blinded again.

Stupid.

When would she finally learn that she couldn't trust _anyone_? Not completely. Not with her inner most feelings and thoughts. She really should have learned the lesson after all.

Her mind set with grim determination for the future, Veronica finally pulled herself together and reached into her bag to get out a note pad and a pencil. Quickly, she wrote Troy a little goodbye note. No way was she letting another relationship of hers end without a closure. And God, this closure would feel so good. Right. Smiling, she signed the letter and then reached once again into her bag to get out the sweets she had bought, just for this case that her suspicions turned out to be true. Carefully, she unwrapped the steroids, then, as carefully, wrapped the sweets back into the package, putting her folded letter in between the sweets and then she stood up and got back onto the chair to put the package back to where she had found it in its hide hole. She had to admit, Troy really had been a clever little buster. Stealing his own father's car and let it be remodeled by Weevil's uncle. Swapping the drugs without Luke or Logan noticing and then hide it here. She had no doubt that he never had planned for her to want to search for his father's car. No wonder. And it explained a lot of his reluctance and disinterest to help her find the car. Because if she had, his father wouldn't send him away – giving him the opportunity to run and come back here to get his start capital.

She hopped down from the chair and bent to gather up the drugs, walking with them to the nearest stall. While she watched steroids worth eight thousand bucks swirling down, she leaned against the thin wall of the stall and sighed.

And the irony of it all: the one guy she could believe and trust in the end had to be _Logan Echolls_. He had been the one she could believe to not have taken those drugs without any shadow of a doubt. His memories she had to trust in order to figure out when Troy had made the switch and just where he could have hid them until he could get back at them. His words that had consoled her, had managed to take the sting out of Troy's treachery, simply by telling her that she was better off without Troy, in that reluctant but loathing voice he had used. But not loathing at her for once but loathing for someone who had betrayed her.

She couldn't help it: She cherished that. Cherished that though they were no way near back to being friends again and probably never would be, things had cooled down between him and her, enough so that Logan had even let himself give her a tiny little thing – that meant oh so much more. That deep down, some tiny little part of him still cared enough to feel at least a bit of concern for her, enough to offer her to drive when he saw she was exhausted, enough to buy her coffee, even remembering the way she liked it most and enough for him to be on her side when he could have chosen to stick to guy code and not rat out Troy to her. She was relieved to find out that she wasn't the only one who felt the change in the air between them during homecoming, relieved that she wasn't alone by feeling this inappropriate old feeling of concern towards someone who once had been a friend, despite them being enemies now, despite everything that had gone down between them.

The water in the toilet stilled once again and with a satisfied nod, Veronica pushed away, gathered up her things and went back out where Weevil was leaning against the bar, nursing a beer.

"Found what you were looking for?" he asked casually.

She nodded with a smile and he frowned.

"Boy, V, remind me to never get onto your bad side," Weevil said and shook his head as he downed the rest of his beer and pushed away to start walking to the door.

"Yeah, you better remember that, Eli," she agreed, her smile widening. She was thankful that Weevil knew not to ask questions. He hadn't when she had gone straight from Logan to him to ask him to take her back to his uncle's and he hadn't when she had asked him to drive her down here. Of course she could have driven herself but that would have meant for her to loose time to go back and get her car and frankly, his bike would have made it in less time anyway. Plus, she had figured that if she couldn't find the drugs, he may be useful to give her hints as to where else to look. He had a quite long rap sheet after all.

He grumbled. "For the last time, name's Weevil. Can't let the boys here you say Eli."

Pointedly, she looked around. "Can't see the boys, _Eli_. And why not? Afraid little ol' me could ruin your badass rep?"

Weevil shook his head. "Chica, you better be careful. I _am_ a bad boy and won't hesitate to prove that."

Veronica let out a long sigh. "Always those empty threats," she said sadly. "As if you could ever hurt a girl, Eli."

"Don't tempt me," he growled and stopped at his bike.

Knowing when it was better to stop to tease the leader of a gang, Veronica just smiled brightly at him. Working hard not to roll his eyes or give in and smile, oh yeah, she could see the effort, he wordlessly pushed the spare helmet into her hands and got onto his bike. Then though he looked back and she could see genuine concern in them. "You okay?" he asked quietly.

Now, would wonders never cease to caught her unguarded? Did badass Eli 'Weevil' Navarro really just express concern for little white chick she was? Unbelievable. First Logan, now Weevil. The star cancellation this day really had to be totally fucked up. Still, she smiled gently and nodded. "I'm fine," she assured him and got behind him for the ride back.

And it wasn't even a lie.

She was fine. Troy hadn't meant enough to her for his treachery to really hurt her that much. Hank Zigmund would get what he deserved the next time he'd try to cross the border with the next load of drugs to replace the stash she just had washed down the toilet. Troy would get a little surprise once he opened his packet. Perhaps, her mom had a reason to have abandoned them and it hadn't been her own free will. That would make such a big difference. Logan and her weren't so bad anymore and she was beginning to believe that her and Weevil actually developed some sort of friendship between them. Plus, her dad's birthday would be tomorrow.

So yeah, she was fine.

* * *

TBC!

_(Author's Note: Uff, one down and still a lot to go. I was looking forward to this one though as I really always wondered just how that car ride between Logan and Veronica went down. Hence the focus on that one. Hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for all the comments!)_


	6. Of poker games and Christmas surprises

**Chapter 6: Of Poker Games And Christmas Surprises**

**(An Echolls Family Christmas)**

_"Presents time!" Lilly exclaimed excitedly._

_Laughing, Veronica shook her head. "No way! The candles aren't even lit yet."_

_"Who needs candlelight when it's time to get presents?" Logan backed up his girlfriend, giving Ronnie a perfectly curved raised eyebrow._

_"I do," Veronica said simply and pointed at the Christmas tree. "Now go to work, hop, hop, hop. The sooner you've lit the candles, the sooner you and Lilly can stop whining and get to open your presents."_

_"You're a slave driver," Logan grumbled, but did stand up to move over to the tree. "And why is it always me who has to lit the candles?"_

_"Because you're the tallest of us," Veronica pointed out, rolling her eyes. "Besides, you can't fool me: I know exactly that you love to do it."_

_"You think," Logan countered and grabbed the lighter. "Why has it to be candles anyway? Any normal American family uses electric lights. But no, not you."_

_"Oh, will you shut up you two and just hurry?" Lilly interrupted Logan and Veronica's discussion. "You have that conversation every year. You'll answer that real candles are just way more beautiful, Logan will point out that maybe, but with the electric lights you can just switch them on and one can start way faster with the presents and then Veronica will suggest that if there's so much to complain then perhaps, next year, Logan or we should give our very own little Christmas party, instead of invading her home and by that time the candles are lit, the leftovers wrapped up and we can get down to business."_

_Veronica and Logan paused to stare at her, frowning. Finally, Logan shook his head. "Well, we'll never know if that would have been the turn of our conversation. Perhaps, this year, it would have ended entirely different. And you've ruined that now," he finished sadly._

_"And it's tradition," Veronica nodded, but smiled. "Logan and I just have to bicker a little at Christmas."_

_"Exactly," Logan nodded._

_"Except you two are bickering always, Christmas or not," Duncan spoke up, coming out of the kitchen._

_"Just more reason why we can't stop following tradition on such an important event as Christmas," Logan reasoned and lit the last candle. "Ta dah! All done! Content now, Ronnie?"_

_"Can we open our fabulous presents now?" Lilly nodded, moving over to the tree and dropping to the floor in front of it, eying the presents._

_"How old are you again?" Duncan asked his big sister, shaking his head, but moved over to join Lilly as well._

_"Never too old to get excited over getting presents," Lilly told her brother._

_"Hear, hear," Logan agreed wholeheartedly and looked over to Veronica - who had vanished. "Now come already, Ronnie!" he called out impatiently, taking his place next to his girlfriend._

_"I'm coming. Just need to give Back-Up his present first," Ronnie said, coming out of the kitchen with a big sized bone with lots and lots of meat on it. Which hadn't gone unnoticed by her dog, who was excitedly jumping up at her. Laughing, she ruffled Back-Up's head and opened the balcony door. Reaching back, she hurled the bone out into the garden, Back-Up jumping after it with a joyful 'whuff'. _

_"How come that the dog gets his present before me?" Lilly asked, pouting._

_"Because contrary to you, he has been a good little dog?" Veronica asked back as she closed the door again and came over to sit down between Lilly and Duncan, giving Duncan a warm smile. "And because otherwise, we'd have no piece to open our gifts."_

_"Okay, but now we can throw ourselves into the fun, can't we?" Logan urged, eying the pile of presents under the tree as well._

_"Who first?" Duncan asked with a nod._

_Lilly and Veronica looked at each other and started to grin big time. "You guys!" they exclaimed together and leaned forward to each grab one of the presents, in form and size identical, but Lilly's was wrapped in red and Veronica's in green. _

_"For our wonderful boyfriends," Veronica began and held out the present to Duncan._

_"... from your even more fabulous girlfriends," Lilly finished, holding out her present to Logan, a dangerous twinkle in her eyes._

_"Thank you," Duncan said smiling and took the present, his fingers brushing Veronica's who smiled back, blushing._

_"I wonder what that could be," Logan mused and took the present, eying his girlfriend suspiciously. He didn't trust this entirely. He had seen that gleam in Lilly's eyes - and it hadn't gone past him that Lilly had been a bit too eager to open presents, even for her._

_"Come on, open it up!" Lilly urged him on. "In fact, why don't you two open it at the same time? Veronica and I count to three and on three, you guys rip it open!" Not waiting for the boys' consent, she started to count. "One!"_

_Logan caught Duncan's eyes._

_"Two!" Veronica continued._

_Logan grinned and gave a shrug. Nodding, Duncan looked down at his present._

_"Three!" the girls exclaimed and the boys dutifully ripped open their presents - and stared._

_One look at the boys' faces, Lilly and Veronica fell into a fit of giggles, high-fiving. _

_Disbelieving, Logan stared at the present in his hands then over to Duncan's, then back at his own and held it up. "Uh... what's this?"_

_"Boxer shorts. You should know what that is, after all, you've been wearing them almost all your life," Lilly said, grinning._

_"Oh no, those aren't boxer shorts," Logan protested. "I don't know what they are, but it's for sure not anything I'm wearing and you perfectly know that." He looked around, frowning. "Now where are our real gifts?"_

_Duncan still stared at the boxers in his hands and then slowly looked up at his girlfriend. "Well... uh... that's an interesting present, Veronica."_

_"Yeah, Lilly and I thought so too," Veronica nodded innocently, having a hard time to make a straight face. Lilly had been right. This was fun._

_"Very... seasonal," Duncan offered, not quite sure how to react._

_"It's a joke, that is what it is!" Logan interrupted and gave his girlfriend a look. "Come on, Lilly. Give us the real presents."_

_But Lilly shook her head, still grinning. "Sorry Logan, that's all you'll get." _

_Logan narrowed his eyes. "I don't believe you."_

_"It's true, Logan," Veronica spoke up, turning her big innocent eyes his way. "These are your real presents. We thought you'd like it. I mean, it's so fitting for Christmas. And those reindeers are so cute!"_

_"News alert, Ronnie: boxers are not supposed to be cute," Logan told her and looked back at his girlfriend. "Now, while I'm not surprised that our little virgin does not know that basic rule, you know it. I mean, I'd look ridiculous..."_

_"But Logan, do you really think I would have bought them for you when not even the mere thought of you in those boxers turned me so on that I've hurried over to you to have sex with you as soon as I could? Last Monday?" Lilly said slyly._

_Logan paused for a moment. Oh, he remembered Monday. Monday had been _good_. Mindblowing._

_"Lilly!" Duncan called out disgusted, making a face._

_"Oh, chill, Duncan," Lilly told her brother, rolling her eyes._

_"You are my _sister_," Duncan emphasized and shook his head. _

_"Just forget it, Duncan. That will only fuel Lilly, you know that," Veronica quickly interrupted the up-coming conversation between Duncan and Lilly. "Do you like your present?" she instead asked, giving him her big eyes._

_Blushing a little bit, Duncan slowly nodded. "Uh, yeah... of course. Very - charming. A really sweet idea."_

_Logan snorted. "God, you're such a wuss! You can't tell me that you don't find them as ridiculous as me, Duncan."_

_"And yet you'll wear them anyway," Lilly told him knowingly, smiling that secret smile of hers._

_"Nope... I won't," Logan assured his girlfriend, certain._

_"Yes you will - if you want more presents, you will," Lilly nodded, smiling sweetly._

_That caught Logan's attention. "More presents?" _

_"Hmm... one you'll love," Lilly nodded and leaned back. "But if you don't want your boxers... Fine. I'm sure I'll find some other guy who will - like that special present."_

_While Logan stared at Lilly, trapped, Duncan sighed. "Let me guess: lingerie."_

_"Rrr, Duncan! Been snooping around in my drawers again?" Lilly asked, turning her head to glance at her brother._

_This time, Duncan just shook his head. Meanwhile, Logan's mind was in overdrive. Lingerie... Fuck._

_"Uh... what exactly are your conditions?" he slowly asked._

_"Now who's the wuss?" Duncan murmured._

_"Hey - we're talking wild sex here!" Logan pointed out. "A man sacrifices a lot for that and rightfully so. You being no exception." Suddenly catching up, he looked over at Veronica, smirking. "Ronnie... I bet if Lilly has something else, so will have you, don't you?" He leaned a bit closer to her. "Now what could that be? Hardly lingerie too... Unless... You wanna make my man here _real _happy, finally?" Logan leered and dived when Veronica, beet red of course, tried to punch him._

_"Wish it'd be that," Lilly sighed, glancing at her best friend. "You're still going to love it though, Duncan."_

_Duncan looked from his sister to his girlfriend and raised an eyebrow. Her cheeks still red, Veronica avoided to look back at him though._

_"Oh... for that alone those ludicrous things are worth it. So, what do you girls want?" Logan asked, looking back at Lilly._

_"Oh, it's no big deal: Just your promise that from now on, each Christmas, you two will wear those wonderful boxers to our little Christmas meetings," Lilly finally revealed, grinning. _

_"For how long?" Logan asked after a moment._

_Lilly's grin widened. "For as long as we deem it fitting - which will certainly be for a few years to come."_

_Logan nodded. "So, just to be clear: you want to ridicule us and have your own personal pleasure of knowing that we run around in blue boxers with reindeers on it to laugh your head off."_

_"My God, he's got it!" Lilly exclaimed, clapping into her hands._

_Logan and Duncan exchanged a long look._

_"But it's going to be totally worth it," Lilly promised, sending her boyfriend a smile he only knew too well. A smile he thrived for. Damn._

_"Okay, okay - it's a deal," Logan nodded, resigned. Oh, what he didn't all do for his girlfriend. _

_Lilly beamed and gave him a quick kiss before she turned her head towards her brother. "And what about you?"_

_Duncan glanced at Veronica._

_"Looking at her won't help you, little brother. I made her promise to follow through with this little blackmailing of mine and we all know what that means," Lilly informed Duncan. "And Duncan, you really don't want to miss out on _her_ other present for you," she added with enough undertone for Logan to do a double-check, glancing at Veronica, who still had a healthy rose to her cheeks and was staring at the floor, embarrassed. _

_Hmm..._

_Finally, Duncan shrugged. "Sure, why not. It's not that bad after all."_

_"Wonderful! And just remember boys: I will know if you cheat or not. Don't think I'll forget about this!" Lilly warned them, giving Logan and Duncan the hard eye, before she turned back to the pile of gifts. "Now it's high time for Veronica and me to get our presents," she announced._

_"He... what about our other presents?" Logan protested._

_Lilly looked back at him and laid her hand on his thigh, stroking it. "Later, Baby, later," she promised, her voice smoky._

_Oh well... later was fine.

* * *

_

Clenching his jaw, Logan quickly pulled his clothes back on but couldn't help but glance at Duncan, also in the process of putting on his clothes yet again. And yet, he still caught a flash of the blue boxers his best friend was wearing.

For a moment, their eyes met and held.

Swallowing, Logan looked away again. Fuck. This so wasn't going anywhere near the plan. The plan had been to have a nice poker night, hopefully winning a bunch of money, and not to have to constantly think about the Christmas tradition that wasn't going to take place anymore. Probably never again.

But then why did he too wear those damn boxers? Hell, he didn't know. He just knew that earlier on, after his shower, his eyes had fallen on them and somehow compelled, he had put them on without giving much more thought about it. He had promised it to Lilly after all. And while the poker night wasn't anything like the Christmas celebration he and the others had used to have - at least he and Duncan would be together and somehow, that had been enough for Logan to wear those damn boxers.

Had Duncan the same reasons?

Sean and Connor left quickly and without many words as soon as their shoes were tied and Logan couldn't blame them. But that meant that he was alone with Duncan now and after finding out about the boxers, being alone with Duncan was the least Logan wanted. There were too many ghosts of the past conjured up by that, mostly, the ghost of a dead girl they both had loved.

Shit.

Determinedly, Logan strolled over to the bar and poured himself a strong whiskey.

"Have one for me as well?" Duncan asked, breaking the heavy silence.

Wordlessly, Logan poured another drink and held it out to his best friend, downing the other. To his surprise, so did Duncan. Then again, his best friend had already shown an unusual liking to dearest JD tonight. Even if the buzz seemed to have worn off quickly with the turn of the events.

"Quite a game, huh?" Logan asked sarcastically, glaring over at the table.

"You could say that," Duncan nodded. "Where do you think the money is? And who took it?"

Logan shrugged. "Bugs me." His eyes got a hard gleam. "But I sure would like to have a word with that guy."

"What do you think will Weevil do?" Duncan asked.

Again, Logan shrugged. "Stealing his money back, one way or another. I'd say lock your things in for the time being but I fear that won't stop Paco."

He had noticed that the biker's jacket had been suspiciously bulky when he had left and he'd bet another grand that Weevil had taken along something that sure as hell didn't belong to him. Something else Logan would have to check upon. Not enough that Logan had lost to Weevil - now the guy had even stolen from him. Truth be told though, Logan didn't even blame him that much: he too would have been pissed off if the money he had won had been stolen. Hell, he _was_ pissed.

Still... letting Weevil come had been a mistake. He wasn't sure why he had agreed in the first place. It wasn't as if he had been intimidated by the biker. Nor were they anywhere near friends. It was just... The long detention they had had to do together had been a pain in the ass - but it sure had been something else. And he had to admit, poling that idiot's car had been fun as hell. So he had thought that perhaps, letting Weevil come would be interesting. Besides, he really had wanted to whip that smirk off the biker's face.

But of course, everything had to go to hell, starting with Connor and Sean being the usual asses they were, making a bit too much fun of Logan for Logan's taste, Duncan had been wasted like he hadn't seen it in a long time and to top it all, Weevil had won. And then the disaster of the pot money having been stolen, them all being forced by Weevil to strip, something Logan had hated to do out of two reasons: the scars on his back he had to somehow prevent to be seen, some of them still healing and therefore angry red - and the damn boxers he wore and that would make him a laughing stock.

And then to find out that Duncan was wearing them as well.

Shit, shit, shit!

"Logan! Hey!"

Startled, Logan looked up from his empty glass to see Duncan staring at him strangely. "Sorry, what?"

Duncan hesitated a moment, then shook his head. "Nothing." He nodded at the table. "Want me to help clean up this mess?"

Logan waved it away. "Nah, the personal will do that tomorrow. And the chips and cards are quickly put away. Thanks though." And most of all, he wanted Duncan to leave. His presence was just too much right now.

"Okay," Duncan nodded and thankfully straightened up. "Well, I better go home then as well."

Logan nodded and sighed when the door fell close behind Duncan. Suddenly exhausted, Logan moved over to one of the chairs and sacked down, closing his eyes.

Only to see Lilly smiling at him.

Cursing, he opened them again and stared into air. Would it ever stop to hurt so much, her not being there anymore? It was over a year now since she had died and while he had thought that finally, things had started to get slightly better again, the pain over her loss was there yet again, raw, open and bleeding.

It was the boxers. It had to be those fucking boxers. If he'd had any sense, he should have burned them long ago. But... he couldn't. He just couldn't. They had been a present from Lilly and he had made that promise to her. And had gotten his award for it. Lilly had been right. Her other present had been worth it all.

And now he was stuck with them for who knew how much longer. Last year, he hadn't been able to wear them. For that, Lilly's death had still been too fresh. This year though... he had thought that he would be ready to try to remember and honor her by keeping his promise this year. And at first, it had worked. Then though he had seen Duncan wearing his boxers as well and now...

He swallowed and sat up, running a hand over his face.

Why had Duncan had to wear them as well? Sure, Lilly had been behind those boxers and the whole idea of making them wear them for their own private Christmas parties but Duncan had gotten his from Veronica. That wasn't quite the same.

Then again, Ronnie was another story altogether. A story Logan definitely didn't want to go in right then. Never actually.

No, he'd better try to find out where that damn money was. Obviously, no one had left with the money, the only good thing that had come to light with their forced strip. Unless Weevil had it. Yeah, that was possible. Would make the most sense. And yet... Logan didn't think though. He sure didn't like the biker nor did he know the biker that well, but his surprise and anger at finding the money having been stolen had seemed genuine. No, he doubted Weevil had taken the money. But who else? Sean? Or Connor? Neither of them needed it, damn it. That just didn't make sense.

And where in hell was that stupid money now? Logan looked around, his eyes narrowed. Logically, it should still be somewhere in the pool house. If no one had left with it, it should be here, right? Weevil had searched the room a little, but not very thoroughly. Something, Logan planned to make up for. After all, he should know best where the money could be hidden away best.

Right.

His jaw set, Logan stood up and went over to the commode next to the poker table and started his search.

* * *

Stunned, Veronica stared at Duncan for a moment before she left the classroom, deeply in thoughts. Had she just dreamed it or had Duncan been real close to accuse Logan, his best friend, of having stolen that money?

Now, if that hadn't come unexpected. Never would she have thought to see the day where Duncan would admit to the dark sides of one Logan Echolls. Usually, he always had had his best friend's back, no matter what. Nothing Veronica had ever blamed him for. Logan was Duncan's best friend, had been so since kindergarten, even back in the time when Logan had still lived in LA with his family. After the Echolls had moved to Neptune, the bond between the boys had gotten even deeper, always standing up for each other.

And now, suddenly, Duncan had admitted that it might be possible that Logan had perhaps profited from the opportunity and had stolen Weevil's money?

What the hell was wrong between them for Duncan almost accusing Logan? Had they had a fight? If so, not one she had heard of. Okay, Duncan hadn't really said anything against Logan. But Veronica knew Duncan well and long enough to see that something had bothered him. That he really believed that perhaps, Logan had taken the money, just to piss off Weevil.

Interesting.

It wasn't so farfetched after all. Heaven knew that Logan and Weevil were far from being friends - even if they seemed to have bonded a tad bit during the detention they had had together. Otherwise, there was no way Logan would have let Weevil come to his poker game, no matter what Weevil had to say. But as it was, Weevil hadn't needed to do much convincing before Logan had relented.

Another interesting fact. And something that could point at Logan as the one behind all this as well.

Thing was - Veronica didn't believe it. She honestly didn't think that Logan had stolen the money. He sure as hell didn't need it for one. Second, why take the money of his own poker game, held at his place? And Logan may not be Weevil's biggest fan but she doubted that Weevil was high enough on Logan's radar to go to all that trouble just to piss him off.

Now if _she_ had been at Weevil's place...

No, not even then did she think Logan would bother to steal the money.

Plus... she liked to think that she learned from past mistakes. And truth was that she had accused Logan of enough things since the year had started already and each time, she had to find out that she had been dead wrong. That she had let herself being blinded by her own conflicted feelings for Logan, the hate and mistrust he had installed in her during the past year so much that she lost herself in her obsession of him being the culprit. Like when his mother's credit card had been stolen.

Or like when she had accused him to be behind the narc campaign against Wanda. Boy had she been wrong then. But she had been so certain. It had been so very much like the whole hate campaign against herself and there she knew that Logan had been the initiator of it so she had been truly convinced that once again, Logan had unleashed one of his psychotic, mean and stinging little attacks. After all, he _had_ been the leader of the opposing party, enrolling Duncan for the school's president candidature, just to make sure to not loose his precious pirate points and privileges.

And... truth was that she had been deeply disappointed when she had seen the 'narc'-sprayings all over the school and had immediately believed Logan responsible. Ever since Homecoming, and after his help in order to prove Troy to be the one who had stolen the steroids and his father's car, things had been definitely different between them. Logan no longer joked about her the moment he saw her. He didn't send those hateful glares her way anymore. Nor did he prank her or had gone after her in any other way. They didn't talk or spend any time with each other, far from it, but Veronica had had the feeling that somehow, Logan had stopped to hate her with such a ferocity, that he had stopped his personal war against her.

His buddies still loved to humiliate her and make her the butt of every bad joke, but not Logan anymore. He no longer had participated in the campaign against her.

Something, that went both ways. She too didn't hate Logan anymore as she had hated him at the beginning of the year. She too didn't argue with him on every opportunity again, thought out any pranks or revenges for what he had done to her. Of course she was far from trusting him again - but she didn't not trust him entirely either.

They had... perhaps not peace, but at least a truce: They once had been friends, now they weren't. Logan hadn't forgiven her, she hadn't forgiven him, but they were past the constant accusing and blaming. He had his life, she had hers and basically, they ignored each other.

And then had come the sprayings. And she hadn't had anything better to do than blame Logan. If she had just thought for a moment, then she should have known that actually, that 'narc' campaign had been way below Logan's standards. He had warred against her for a year - she knew just how clever and thoughtful his attacks were. Comparing to that, the 'narc'-sprayings had been plumb and dense.

But she hadn't taken the time to think. Instead, she just had gone and had blamed Logan, still breathing mad about the low attack.

_(Flashback)_

_Veronica entered the newspaper class room and swept the room for one jackass. Spotting him in one of the computer booths, she quickly strolled over to him, eyes narrowed. "Bravo, Logan. It's a new low. And just when the critics were having some doubts," she said coldly, piercing him with her glare.  
_

_  
Logan looked up and there had been that awful smirk she hated so much and for which alone she had a hard time to hold back the slap she was dying to give him, just so that damn smirk vanished for once. He, unfazed as usual, glanced over towards Duncan, who sat at the next table and probably heard every word, then back at Veronica, smiling knowingly.  
_

_"Mmm..." he answered dryly. "Must be talking about your, uh, narc friend, W-W-W-Wanda." He laughed and it was no nice laugh. "Well isn't it time that you found another bad guy," he asked smirking, but then suddenly, when she kept giving him that silent glare, his smile died and his eyes hardened. "Look, I just don't - have time to be responsible for every little thing that goes wrong in your life," he told her, bitterly._

_For a moment, Veronica was stunned. Had she just imagined it or had there really been a flash of pain in his eyes? But before she could make sure, his face cleared and the smirk was back in place. Laughing, he got up, feigned a punch into her stomach, and sauntered away, just like the jackass she knew and hated._

_(End Flashback)  
_

Was it any wonder that she had accused him? After everything he had done to her? After that brief conversation? And yet... there had been that moment when she could have sworn that he had been truly hurt by her accusation. Just a tiny moment... but she couldn't forget about it anymore. So when Weevil had told her about how Wanda had ratted out his friend Felix - she had decided to test Wanda. And hadn't been that surprised to find out that Wanda indeed was not such a nice person who had been quick to betray her just to save her own skin. Nothing even remotely like a friend.

Not that that had hurt. But having to apologize to Logan... now, that had been an experience she could have had lived without. Well... it hadn't been a real apology - Logan had missed school for almost a week, sick apparently, and after a week it had been a bit too late to apologize for it. She had merely made a comment when they had both arrived early for their newspaper class.

_(Flashback)_

_"Great," Logan muttered annoyed when he entered the classroom and saw that only Veronica was there, working on a computer. _

_Veronica had looked up and tensed, said nothing though. Logan looked like he was tempted to back out of the room again and she hoped he would do just that. No such luck though. In the end, he walked to one of the booth that had enough distance between him and Veronica, swung his backpack onto the table and sat down._

_Minutes trickled slowly by and still, they were the only ones. Of course, technically, it was still lunch break and that wouldn't be over for another ten minutes. Apparently ten long minutes as the tension in the room doubled and tripled, without them even stealing a glance at each other, both furiously concentrated on the screen in front of them. _

_When it got too much, Veronica angrily sat back and run a hand over her face. Damn it. She hated not to be even with Logan. There was that feeling, like she owed him something for her false accusation now and she didn't like that one bit. Sighing, she finally glanced over to him. Probably, he couldn't care less what she thought, let alone about him. And still... the Logan she had known as her friend wasn't easily disturbed by any comments - sometimes though they did get to him, especially when they had come from a friend. _

_Now, they sure weren't friends anymore, but then... some of his comments hurt her more than any prank against her ever could, didn't they? Perhaps that went both ways and then... _

_Yeah right._

_"Looked like Wanda had the habit to rat out people to save her own skin," Veronica said, trying to sound conversationally._

_Logan's fingers flying away on the keyboard stilled but that was the only sign that he had even heard her._

_"She was even stupid enough to dish out on one of Weevil's buddies," she continued, tapping with her pen onto her pad. _

_Logan neither looked at her, nor did he make any comment. But he wasn't typing again either._

_"And you know those types... always spraying things on walls all over town," Veronica said, still conversationally. "Or onto lockers and cars," she added quietly after a little hesitation, her eyes on Logan now._

_He sat still unmoving but after a long moment, he turned his head to look at her. "Yeah... real bummer that," he commented quietly without his usual snarkiness. "Must have been a real disappointment for you," he then added bitterly though, looking back at his screen._

_Frowning, she looked at him, contemplating. So she hadn't imagined it... her accusation had gotten to him after all. Hell... she was almost certain now that it had actually hurt him in a way. She looked away, staring at her own screen and bit her lip._

_Oh, what the hell..._

_"No, I wasn't. 'Relieved' would nail it better," she admitted in a low voice, glancing over at him out of the corner of his eyes._

_Logan's head snapped around to stare at her and she met his eyes, calmly. No matter how much she had hated it - she still had meant every word. She had been glad to find out that it hadn't been Logan's handiwork, all those 'narc'-sprayings. _

_Their eyes held and he was frowning a little. Some other students poured into the room and finally, Logan gave a barely noticeable nod before he looked away again, back to his screen._

_Smiling uneasily, Veronica too turned her attention back to her computer. She really hoped she wouldn't have to do that ever again. But at the same time, she was relieved. Her and Logan were even now and they could return to the way they had been - uh, whatever that was at the moment._

_(End Flashback)_

That had been the last time the two of them had exchanged any words directly - well, she might have teased him and Weevil a little when they had had detention together... but really, when you saw Logan Echolls, leader of the 09ers, the 'have-people', and Eli 'Weevil' Navarro, leader of the PCHer, the 'not-have-people', together, washing a shabby car or painting the walls - one just had to make a comment, right? It was just too good of an exceptional opportunity than to let it pass. Besides, the glare both of the boys had sent her had been too funny.

Other than that though, nada, and she wasn't unhappy about it. Heaven knew that she had more than enough to think about, to figure out, to do. There was Clarence Wiedmanm, head of Jake Kane's software firm, who had sent her mother pictures of Veronica, with a target drawn over her face, effectively scaring her out of town. Why? Why would Jake Kane bother to run an unimportant woman out of town who had nothing to do with him and who was on top of it all an alcoholic? Why ordering those pictures of her daughter?

Right... because the way it looked, Veronica's mother and Jake Kane had had an affair. More than that: they had been high school sweethearts, even being the king and queen of the prom ball. And as if that wasn't enough: she probably was actually Jake's biologically daughter and not her dad's.

Quite a bit to swallow, huh? But if she was Jake's daughter, and if he still loved her mom - why would he order Wiedmann to take those pictures? It just didn't make sense.

Nor was she any step closer to find out who really had killed Lilly. She had many theories, but none she could prove and none she liked much. The only thing she did know was that Abel Koontz hadn't killed her. And as much as she hated it: it looked as if Lilly probably had been killed by someone who she had known. It wasn't that easy to get onto the Kane area, let alone the pool. But most of all, it had to be someone close to her because probably, the one who had planted the evidence against Koontz on his houseboat, her shoes, and therefore had covered up her murder was most likely also her killer - or was paid by the killer. And access to her room had had only few people.

The Kanes, who had the money to buy silence and it was Jake's man for dirty business who had made the call and probably had also planted the shoes on Koontz's houseboat. The Kanes, who each and every one of them were without an alibi, now that it was clear that Lilly had been still alive two hours after her supposedly death. And who all conveniently had had an alibi for that false time of death.

Then there was the personal of the Kanes, of course - but the problem there was that as far as she could see, Koontz must have been paid to confess to Lilly's murder - which meant that there had been a lot of money involved, money no maid, cook or janitor could afford.

Not to forget Logan - as her boyfriend and Duncan's best friend he had unlimited access to not only the Kane mansion, but also Lilly's room. But Logan had been in Tijuana with Dick and Cassidy Casablancas the day Lilly had tied. Besides... Logan could get quite angry, but angry enough to kill someone, Lilly of all people? He had loved Lilly, had been crazy for her. Even if he hadn't an airtight alibi, she still would doubt very much that he really could have killed her.

And of course she herself would have had easy access - but then, if there was one thing that she knew, then that she certainly hadn't killed Lilly. But there might be other girls that had been Lilly's friend who might have killed her. Perhaps an angry girlfriend of one of Lilly's lovers. But - they sure hadn't paid off Koontz and had arranged for that whole treachery with Lilly's time of death.

No... the only thing that made sense were the Kanes. And still... Veronica just had a hard time to believe that one of them might have killed Lilly. Most of all Duncan. Duncan had loved Lilly, had loved her so much. Why would he have killed her? And Jake Kane... the man was powerful and as all powerful men he had that ungiving streak in himself - but was he really so cold to be able to kill his own daughter? Even Celeste... she was a bitch, no doubt about that, but killing her own child?

On top of that all, she also had involved her father into a shooting and nearly had gotten a pregnant woman and her baby hurt, had to clear her and Meg's virtue (even though she doubted that anything could save her virtue in this school) and also had failed to save Casey Gant from his parents and their mediator, giving him a brainwash.

Not exactly the best two months she ever had. Now Christmas was knocking at her door and she had the perfect present for her dad - but just couldn't afford it. Ugh. Being poor sucked so much! Then again... there was that idea in the back of her head about how she perhaps might get that money to send her father to the baseball camp - and a lot more to pay into her college fund. For that though she needed to find out who had stolen the pot money from Logan's poker game and now had two very good reasons to solve that case - get Duncan's computer back so his diary and her part in his life would not get out - and getting all that money she so much could need.

There were two problems though: First, no matter how you twisted it, she would have to talk to Logan about the game, something that was perhaps right behind the wish to go join the troops and end up in some shithole having to clean toilets with toothbrushes. Yeah, she was really looking forward to that. Not to mention that she probably needed his help to even get a chance to talk to Connor Larkin. How she was supposed to do that though was still beyond her. Which led to problem two: in order to get her money, she once again would have to talk Logan into doing what she wanted - and not only Logan. Duncan, Sean and Connor as well.

But hey, perhaps a miracle would happen and the one who had stolen the money would come to her to confess, shaking in his boots after word got out that she was looking into the case.

It was Christmas after all, wasn't it? Miracles could happen around Christmas.

* * *

Or course no miracle happened. Instead, here she was now, standing in front of the Echolls' gate and trying to get up the courage to go in while her instinct only told her one thing: turn around and run.

She hadn't been here since around two days after Lilly's death, when she had come to be with Logan. That had been before her dad had hauled in Jake for questioning, naturally. It had helped, to grieve with someone who had loved Lilly as much, was as devastated about her death as she had been. And in a way, she had felt closer to Lilly in Logan's presence, them two having been such an item for years.

"Miss? Can I help you?"

Ripped out of her thoughts, she saw a security guy standing in front of her. No one she recognized, but then, the Echolls never had had a permanent security guard. They had the alarm system, high tech of course, and when big events stood into the house like now with Lynn's Christmas party, they'd hire a guard to guarantee that not just everyone got in, especially not the sometimes crazed fans of Aaron.

Getting a grip on herself, she smiled and nodded. "Yeah. I'm Veronica Mars and work for Mars Investigation. My dad asked me to bring by a few papers for Mrs Echolls to sign."

"Just a moment please," the guy said and started to check the list on his board. "Ah, there it is, Mars Investigation. Come in then," he said with a nod and stepped back, opening the gate for her to get in.

This was it. The last moment for her to turn around. Instead, she started the car and slowly crept up the driveway. Considering that there was a stalker out there who probably wanted to hurt Aaron and who most likely was female, she had gotten in quite easy. Too easy. The guard should have asked for her ID. Then again, her dad had most likely called ahead to get her easy access.

When her dad had asked her to drop off the papers, she had known that that was the perfect opportunity for her to have that talk with Logan - and to get a look at the crime scene. Didn't mean though that she liked to be here, in a house she knew fairly well and that mostly held only good memories. Too bad that her archenemy was now living here, and not her friend anymore.

She parked the car behind Logan's X-Terra. In a way, she had hoped that he perhaps wasn't home when she came, giving her another excuse to not have to go see him and worse, try to talk with him. No such luck of course. Taking a deep breath, she got out of her car and looked up at the main entrance. She wasn't quite sure how she wanted to do this: First go give Lynn the papers or first go look for Logan. In the worst case, she could leave the papers with him after all. She had a legal right to be here, after all. She doubted though that Logan would like to see her here. Briefly, she wondered what he had thought when Lynn had told him that she had hired Mars Investigation because of that stalker. And... the part of her who remembered only too well her friendship with Logan wondered how he felt about that stalker. According to her Dad, Aaron wasn't worried and had thought it over the top that his wife had been worried as much as to go hire a P.I..

And then, there was the third choice: Go around the house to the pool and get a look at the pool house where the poker game had taken place before she had no excuse anymore to do just that - and pray that she didn't run into Logan. With anyone else, she could say she had been lost. She doubted that there was anyone working here who had an idea that she had been quite a regular here, once.

Right. Door three it was.

Quickly, she rounded the house, avoiding as much windows as she could, and already, there was the pool, the pool house on the other side. Casting a glance around and seeing no one, thankfully, she hurried around the pool.

Her steps faltered when she heard faint sounds coming through the open door of the pool house. And not just any sounds, no, it sounded like a video game. She was pretty sure that there was only one person in this household who would play a video game. And sure enough, there she could already hear Logan, muttering about the game.

Great. Just great. So much for her luck.

Sighing, Veronica slowly entered the room, glancing around. To say the place was a mess would be the understatement of the year. It looked like a hurricane had gone through the pool house.

So far, Logan hadn't noticed her, totally engrossed in his game. "Come on," he urged on his character, his fingers flying over the joystick.

Time to announce her presence, she guessed. Swallowing down the awkwardness and nervousness she was feeling, she pulled up her shields. She sure as hell would need them. "I love the smell of testosterone in the morning."

Startled, Logan looked up, staring at her for a second. Then he dismissed her as if she was nothing and turned his attention back to the game. "This is why I suggested attack dogs," he said, his eyes glued to the screen in front of him. "But no, my mother wanted an alpaca," he added, his voice heavy with sarcasm.

Okay... so far so good. At least it wasn't the explosion and instant following throw out she had halfway expected. So, ignoring his sarcasm, she pulled the envelope her dad had given her out of her bag. "My father sent me with paperwork for your mom," she explained - justified.

"And you wanted to say hi?" Logan asked surprised and looked back at her, smiling. Then though he shook his head once. "It's a good thing I didn't have my slam book out."

Putting the envelope down, Veronica came down to business. Heaven knew any small talk was lost between her and Logan. "I wanted to ask you about the game."

Suddenly, the air in the pool house cooled down to arctic level as with a sharp movement, Logan gave up on his game and stood up, giving her a cold stare. "I've been meaning to ask you something," he said and moved around the bar towards a big sized coffee maker. "Did your super-sleuth kit come with a decoder ring? Do you have a pen that writes with invisible ink?" he asked angrily, his glare intensifying with each word before he dismissed her once again. "Never mind, don't care. Mush! Mush!" he finished his rant bitterly and shoed her out.

What the hell had she been thinking? How had she even been able to see it possible that Logan would cease to be such an annoying jackass and actually tell her anything? A fool, that was what she was. Shaking her head, she turned on her heels and looked that she got the hell out of there. Before she let him see how his words had gotten to her - once again. Why the hell could she not just ignore his stabs against her like she could it with all the other dirty comments against her?

Perhaps, next time she had the harebrained idea to expect from Logan anything else than a cold shoulder she would even remember just this moment and know better than to ridicule herself once again.

Hopefully.

* * *

Who the hell did she think she was? Coming in here, into his own fucking home, like she had still any right to just come here as it pleased her?

To say it had been a shock to suddenly see her standing before him, in flesh, would be like to say it was no big deal if the Pope declared that he'd quite being catholic after having been abducted by aliens and from now one would solely believe in the power of Amun Ra, demanding that the pyramids would be rebuild.

He had known right from the beginning, when his mom had told him about her stupid idea to go hire Veronica's father because of that humbug stalker of his dad, that that was probably the worst idea she had had since falling in love with his father. Just like he had known right away that that Duncan had gotten Veronica to see if she could find the little thief who had stolen the pot money would come around to bite Logan in the ass. He had been breathing mad about that, even before Duncan had suddenly accused him of stealing the money himself, causing into the worst fight he ever had had with his best friend. And here she was now, just having waltzed in and having the nerve to question him - once again!

The least he wanted was her sniffing around in this case - or even worse, in that stalker bogus. He couldn't need her snooping around in his life and things that weren't her concern at all. But most of all, he didn't want her doing those super sleuth things at all. Why couldn't she see how infinitely stupid and dangerous her little games were? She was bound to get hurt, sooner or later. Probably rather sooner. After all, hadn't she been involved in a shooting only recently? Shouldn't that have been enough for her to finally stop that nonsense? But oh no, not Veronica Mars. Instead, she went and joined a cult, all in the name of the great detective. Or broke into the house of strangers, like now.

Okay, so his house hardly was that of a stranger. And he even bought that story with the paperwork. But still, that wasn't the point.

Why did he have to care anyway? It wasn't his business, she wasn't his business, hell, she was hardly a blip on his radar anymore - and still... the moment he had heard about that shooting...

_(Flashback)_

_"Now look at that - such a fine painting job. I think you two just found your calling."_

_Logan threw a glare back over his shoulder, otherwise though just continued with the rhythmic up and down movements with his arm and the brush in his hand. _

_"You could open a business. I bet it would be a success. Weevil's boys are going to decorate whole Neptune and then you can go and paint it nice and clean again. The 09ers would love to hire you, Logan, and the rest of Neptune would just come to Weevil."_

_"Yo, chica, you better stop now before I come down and shut you up," Weevil growled beside him and Logan smirked. Good luck with that._

_"Oh, now I'm shaking in my boots. What are you gonna do? Paint me in yellow and green? I could be the school's mascot."_

_With a loud snort, Logan pushed the brush back into the paint and turned to glance at her, grinning up at them. "Ah, now I finally know your calling, Ronnie!" he drawled and matched her grin. ""Why have I never seen the resemblance before? Now though... what a nice little parrot you are."_

_She raised an eyebrow. "You've been better already, Logan. What an honor to be compared to Polly. Never knew I got to be so well-loved by the whole school." She shook the head. "Must be the fumes," she sighed sadly, despite the smirk on her face. "Well, I don't want to keep you boys from having fun. Just don't overdo it. Who knows what Clemmons will make you two do next. I kinda hope it's cleaning the toilets." She tilted her head. "Hmm... actually: hop, hop, guys, hurry on. Oh, and up there in the corner... I think you missed a spot there."_

_"Seriously V, I'm only going to be nice for so long," Weevil grumbled, sending her one of his most badass-glares._

_"Oh Eli, always these promises - but then you never go through with them. Really, you shouldn't disappoint a girl like that," Veronica laughed, unfazed by the biker's threat._

_Quickly, Logan lowered his head to hide the smile. He shouldn't be amused by anything Ronnie did - but hell, she sure had learned to give nice comebacks. _

_"See you tomorrow at the next wall," Ronnie told them and turned to proceed her way, her sparkling laughter trailing after her._

_"Yo V!" Weevil though called after her and annoyed, Logan glanced at him._

_"Man, you crazy? Just let her go already?" he said, frowning._

_But Weevil just sent him a glare and jumped down from the wall, heading over to Veronica who had stopped, looking questioningly at him._

_Shaking his head, Logan turned back to resume his painting. _

_"You okay?" He heard Weevil ask. "Heard about the shooting."_

_Logan froze._

_Shooting? What shooting?_

_"Sure, I'm okay," he dimly heard Ronnie's cool respond and his head snapped around, only to see her briskly walking away. _

_She had lied._

_He may not know her as well anymore as he had used to know her - and he may not even be able anymore to tell always if she was saying the truth or not - but he still knew her well enough to know without any doubt that just now, she had lied. _

_Shaking his head, Weevil joined him back on the wall. _

_His heart beating fast, Logan stared after Ronnie before he abruptly turned to Weevil. "What shooting?" he demanded to know._

_Weevil bent down to pick back up his brush. "What?"_

_"The shooting," Logan repeated impatiently. "What were you talking about. What shooting?"_

_Jeez, just how dense what that guy?_

_Weevil stared at him, frowning. "What do you care?"_

_Instead of retreating, like he assumed Weevil had expected it, Logan stepped forward to glare right into the Hispanic's dark eyes. "What. Shooting?" he repeated, icily._

_Weevil's frown deepened but in the end, he shrugged. "V was helping some neighbor of hers who had disappeared. And she found her. Don't know what exactly happened after that, just that later that night, things got out of hand and the sheriff needed to interfere. He shot the guy, got him into the hospital."_

_Logan stared for a moment longer at the biker, then abruptly turned and angrily went back to paint the wall. He assumed that Weevil meant Mr Mars when he was referring to the sheriff. And in just what a shithole did she live now anyway, if her dad had to go shoot their neighbors? So Ronnie had messed up good. Big surprise that. But then why was he so angry? What did he care when Veronica had fucked up so much that it had come to a shooting?_

_Because, a quiet voice whispered to him deep in his head, Veronica had been way too close to that shooting. To the danger of being hurt. To the danger of being killed. _

_And to his surprise, the thought of her being dead left him in a cold sweat. No matter what had happened, no matter just how much he had hated her this past year - he couldn't support the thought of loosing her. Even if they weren't friends anymore, he realized with an overwhelming certainty, her dying as well would still hit almost as hard as having lost Lilly. _

_(End Flashback)_

So no, the least he wanted was Ronnie having to do anything with that stupid P.I. stuff again. Rather a stupid wish, he knew. Clearly, he had no say so at all in that respect. She still snooped around, getting herself in God knew what. And it infuriated him to no ends.

But still... There had been that flicker of disappointment, just before she had turned around. Disappointment and hurt. And even though that he hated it - he felt slightly guilty about that. Fuck. It had been so much easier back when he had just hated her. Now though... they may not be friends again, but he didn't hate her anymore, not really. Nor could he any longer ignore the fact that once, this girl had meant a lot to him. Enough that even now, the mere thought of her dying as well let him wake up in cold sweet some nights now. Enough, that her feelings were no longer unimportant to him anymore.

Besides, what could it hurt if he talked with her about the poker game? It wasn't as if she wasn't investigating this 'case' anyway, with or without his help. And whoever had taken the money may be a petty little thief - but he doubted that the guy could seriously hurt Ronnie. So why not let her help? Heaven knew that he had no clue whatsoever about who had taken the money - or how. Because one thing he knew for sure: the money was not here.

Right.

"Hey, uh, wait. Hey!" he called out, stopping her from leaving.

Veronica paused by the door, glancing back at him.

He hesitated only a moment longer, still silently asking himself what the heck he was doing there. "Maybe you should talk to Connor."

That seemed to have surprised her as she walked back in. "Larkin? Like Connor Larkin?" she asked, perplexed.

Hmm... could it be that little Ronnie was a tad bit star struck there? Over Connor? Oh please! "He's a mortal, believe me. They just draw his abs on," he smirked. He just couldn't help it. He didn't like Connor much, like the poker game had reminded him of only too well, once again.

"Is he doing another movie with your father?" Veronica asked.

"You know, I don't know if it's so much a movie as a fifty million dollar crap pile," he answered sarcastically, but frowned inwardly.

Seriously - what was going on here? Why had he just said that? That wasn't something he'd tell Veronica Mars nowadays. That was something he'd have told the old Veronica Mars, the girl that had been his friend - the girl he had trusted.

It had to be her being here, reminding him just a bit too much of the time when she used to hang out here on a regular basis.

"Why would Connor steal the money? He's a zillionaire."

Veronica's question brought him out of his thoughts and he smirked again. "Well, everybody's got their issues, right?" he asked and to emphasize the meaning of his words, he put the finger to his nose and sniffed loudly. When her eyes widened, he grinned, nodding slightly. "Plus, the guy's got something against me," he added, truthfully. He and Connor never had liked each other much. Too bad that Connor was such a big friend and fan of his father, ever since he had played Aaron's son in another of his crap movies.

At her questioning look, he sighed and told her about the oh so funny moment when that idiot Connor first accused him of being a racist to then happily tell the story about Logan's tenth birthday and the girl he had had a crush on, Rosie Perez, giving him a handbag because she had thought he was a girl. Yeah, real funny. Almost as funny as Sean's comment that Connor really was like the son Aaron Echolls never had.

If only. There was nothing that Logan wanted more than to not be his father's son. Even if that meant that he probably wouldn't even be here on this world. Then again, what was so great about his life, huh? The girl he had loved was dead, his best friend thought he was a jackass and hadn't talked to him anymore ever since their fight, the only other friend he ever truly had had had betrayed him and kept accusing him of things she should know he would have never done and his father loved to beat on him while his mother drank her Chardonnay or swallowed her little happy pills.

Yeah... real great life he had there.

Shit... he shouldn't be thinking those thoughts. Not right now - not in front of Veronica.

With an effort, he came back from his musings and memories, forcing a smirk onto his face. "So unless his Pavlovian response to a downloaded ringtone is to urinate, then he was up to something," he summarized his accusation that Connor was into drugs. Stupid enough he would be. "Or, his bladder's as small as his brain."

He looked at her, expecting her to either refuse to believe his suspicion or to start accuse him of having stolen the money. Probably both.

But she did nothing alike. Instead, there was a small smile playing at the corner of her mouth. "I would be more than happy to question him," she simply said and the look in her eyes already told him what would come next. Not thinking much about it, he pulled out his cell phone and started to punch in the number of Gus. It sure wasn't the first time he got asked to get someone into the shooting location. Though, to be fair, Veronica had never asked him for that particular favor. "I've a feeling he's not the easiest person to get to, probably has a team of bodyguards to protect him from girls like me," Veronica continued.

Holding the phone against his chest, he grinned at her. Oh yeah, she'd be right with that one. "I honestly don't get it," he told her and then held the phone at his ear. "Hey man. It's, uh, Logan Echolls," he greeted Gus.

"Hey Logan. You good?" Gus asked.

Logan laughed, moving around the bar. "Yeah. Hey, listen, can you get, uh, my friend..." He stopped dead cold, shocked that just that word had come over his lips, totally unintentionally, and he briefly shot Veronica a glance over. She smiled sarcastically though. Right. Sarcasm. Irony. That had to be it. No way did he thought about her as a friend. No way. Now, where was he? Oh, right. "... a drive-on today to see Connor?" he finished his request.

"Sure. You have me her name?" Gus wanted to know.

"Yeah, Veronica Mars," Logan answered, relieved that Gus wasn't difficult about it. Then again, he hadn't expected Gus to be difficult. Gus was one of the more decent guys who worked in Hollywood and he and Gus had always gotten along quite well, the old guy often having done him a favor.

"Fonica?" Gus repeated unsure.

Spelling though wasn't Gus' strongest ability, Logan thought, rolling his eyes. "No, Veronica," he repeated, enunciation each syllable. "'V' as in 'virgin'," he added exasperatedly without thinking, falling back to one of his most favorite reverences to Veronica. Growing aware of it, he shot Veronica another glance, but this times, her eyes were turned away from him.

"Oh, okay. I'll let her through. Haven't seen you in while, Logan. You should come by again one time as well.

"Yeah," Logan muttered, still hung up on his slip. Damn it... he didn't like that it was so easy to fall into old patterns with Veronica. Talking with her in the first place, telling her what he really thought, helping her instinctively, calling her his friend and now even pulling out the old jokes again.

"See you," Gus said and hung up, the sound reminding him that he wasn't alone and that Veronica was still standing only a few feet away from him.

Quickly, he shut down his own phone and forced another grin onto his face. "There you go."

She gave a small node, her green eyes piercing his. "Look at you, all helpful," she observed quietly, mistrustfully.

Yeah, that he was, wasn't he? And it sure bugged the hell out of him. Furiously, he searched for an answer. Thank God at least part of his brain still seemed to function right. "Hey, your peskiness being unleashed on Connor brings me joy," he told her, walking over to her to come to a stop right in front of her. Too close than it should be, he thought as he stared down at her with a sneer, getting a whiff of faint vanilla.

Who'd have thought that? All those stark changes in her but she still smelled the same.

She held his eyes a moment longer before she turned wordlessly and left.

"Annoy, tiny blonde one," Logan called after her. "Annoy like the wind!" he added, gesturing and blowing after her as she walked away from him. Oh yeah, he really liked the idea of her going to annoy Connor. Heaven knew she was really excellent at annoying people nowadays, he thought, growing serious and sending a last hard glance after her before he turned and went back inside.

She had interrupted him in the middle of a game after all. And having to concentrate on the game could just be the perfect thing to avoid thinking about what just happened. And why... Why he was almost feeling good about her visit.

No... it definitely wasn't good if he allowed himself to think about their most recent encounter. Really not.

But before he had taken even five steps back inside, a voice rang out, shooting his entire fine plan to hell.

"Veronica? Is that you, honey?"

Shit! Cursing, Logan turned on his heels and rushed back outside. Shit, shit, shit!

* * *

"Veronica? Is that you, honey?"

Oh no. Oh no, no, _no_!

But sure enough, there was Lynn, hurrying towards her, the big, beaming smile Logan had inherited from her on her face. Logan had been unhappy enough about her showing up at his place. She doubted he wanted her talking to his mom now on top of it all. As if on cue, Logan came out of the pool house, a frown on his face.

Now what? She could hardly act as if she hadn't seen or heard Lynn when she was heading straight towards her. It wasn't her fault that Lynn had do leave the house just in the moment Veronica had left the pool house.

"It really is you!" Lynn exclaimed and the next moment, Veronica found herself in a warm hug. "Oh Veronica, it's so nice to see you again," Logan's mom said, leaning back, her hands still on Veronica's waist though and that warm, welcoming smile never wavering. Rather growing bigger, if anything, when she looked over Veronica's shoulder at her son, quickly approaching them. "Have you visited Logan?"

Veronica glanced back at Logan. "Something like that," she muttered. "Dad has some documents you need to sign and asked me to bring them by. I run into Logan and gave them to him."

Passing her a single glare, Logan stepped towards them. "Yeah Mom. She was just leaving."

"Nonsense!" Lynn protested, shaking her head. "It's been way too long since we last had the pleasure to see you here. There's no way I'm letting you go without at least having an ice tea with us. You still like ice tea, do you? See, I knew it! Now come on!"

What? No!

"That's awfully nice, Mrs Echolls, but..."

"Now Veronica, I know it's been a while but I'm sure you haven't forgotten to call me Lynn, have you?" Lynn interrupted her, the hint of a frown between her eyes.

Flustered, Veronica shook her head, glancing at Logan. "Of course not, but..."

"Then please, honey, it's Lynn," Logan's mom once again interrupted her and pulled at Veronica's hand again. "Now come, let's go and talk a little. I see you've cut your hair. While I think you looked charming with the long hair I must say it suits you very well."

"Uh thanks," Veronica said awkwardly. "But Lynn, I'm sorry, but I really can't stay."

"Yeah Mom," Logan nodded. "She can't. That's why she was just leaving."

"Oh, I'm sure you'll have time for one little glass of ice tea," Lynn though insisted and already, she had pulled Veronica inside, towards the kitchen, with Logan trailing behind them.

"I really don't think..." Logan and Veronica both started at the same time and stopped, glancing at each other.

Lynn laughed. "Now, look at the two of you. It sure is good to see you two together again."

Veronica didn't even bother to say something this time. Lynn was nice and she liked Logan's mother, always had - but sometimes she was a bit - far away from reality, rather seeing what she wanted to see rather than what really was there to see. To her surprise, Logan too said nothing this time. Instead, he shook his head and with a glare leant against the counter.

She returned the glare and put her bag down. Looked like she was going to have ice tea with Logan and his mom. Oh joy.

Lynn was pouring them the tea and came over with the glasses. "I must admit, as much as I hated having to go to your father because of those dreadful letters, I really did hope to see you again, Veronica." She pointed to the couch and hesitantly, Veronica sat down. "We missed seeing you around here, honey."

Yeah sure - she believed that. Of course Logan had missed her. She bet that was why he had been so 'super nice' towards her, this past year.

"Especially Logan here," Lynn sighed, glancing over at her son who, for a change, glared at his mother now.

"Mom!"

"Oh, you don't need to try to deny it. I know my son, Logan," she hushed him and looked back at Veronica. "No, how have you been, this past year?"

Oh, let's see: her best friend had been killed and now the wrong man was on death row, her mother had left her, her friends had turned against her, most of all Logan, she had been raped, made fun of when she had tried to report the crime, had to move out from their beautiful home into a small apartment where hot water wasn't a given and basically fought every day to not just give in. "Okay," she murmured and avoided meeting any of the Echolls' eyes, taking a big swallow.

The sooner she finished that glass, the sooner she could escape from there.

She jerked a bit and looked up when Lynn covered the hand in her lap with one of her one, squeezing. "I'm sure it hasn't been easy for you, Veronica," Lynn said quietly, her eyes gentle. "I've heard about Lianne."

The sympathy she could read in Lynn's eyes came such unexpected that it threw Veronica totally off guard, her throat closing off. Ever since her mother had disappeared a year ago, she had heard a lot comments about her departure, many of them coming from Logan - this was the first time anyone seemed to genuinely care about it and that it was Logan's mom out of all people...

Still smiling warmly, Lynn reached up and caressed her cheek. "But then, you've always been a strong girl," she almost whispered and suddenly, Veronica felt a suspecting stinging in her eyes. It's been a long time since she had felt anything close to a motherly touch and on top of it all, for a moment there, she was a bit overwhelmed by Lynn's kindness.

Then Lynn straightened and she let go of Veronica, smiling over to Logan. "And now that you and Logan have moved past that silly fight of yours, I sure hope to see you more often again."

Veronica didn't dare to look at Logan after that assumption of Lynn. Now that was a good joke.

God, she needed to get out of there!

Quickly, she emptied her glass and stood up. "It's been nice to see you again, Lynn, but I really need to go now. I have an appointment over in LA and don't want to be late," she said quietly.

Lynn looked disappointed, but stood up as well. "That's too bad. Come by soon again though, yes, honey?"

This time, Veronica did glance over to Logan who had been surprisingly quiet for the past few minutes, but he wasn't looking at her and rather stared into his glass of ice tea.

"We'll see," Veronica said evasively and stepped back. "Thanks for the ice tea, Lynn. Logan," she added after a second and then, with a last smile at Lynn, quickly fled the scene.

That had been awkward. And triggering way too many memories... Good and bad ones.

* * *

Logan had a hard time concentrating on school the next day. Veronica's visit had left him pretty rattled, even if he hated to admit that. He believed that it wouldn't have affected him as much if Veronica just hadn't had to run into his mother. Yeah, he could have had handled her visit up until then, even if there had been those awkward moments as well. But at least, then it just had been the two of them. What happened between them, stayed between them. Not even their war had changed that.

But then his mother had spotted Veronica and naturally absolutely had to talk with her. It was no secret to Logan that his mom liked Veronica. Always had, right from the first time she had met Veronica. She always had treated her more like her daughter than she ever had Trina and Logan suspected that his mom really saw in Veronica the daughter she never had, as that moment the day before, when his mom had mentioned Veronica's mother, had shown once again.

A moment that had struck Logan hard. Even if you didn't know Veronica as well as he did, it had been obvious that Veronica had had a hard time to control herself for a moment there and with a start he had really realized for the first time that Veronica had been abandoned by her mother. Not just by her former friends, no, even her own mother had left her. He had known that all along, hell, had made more than just a few jokes about just that - but he never had allowed himself to grasp the meaning behind that. But then he had seen her sitting there, fighting off tears and looking with so much pain and longing at his mother... His mom had been right: it must have been hard for her. He knew how close she had been to her mother, how much she had loved her, despite the alcohol, and could only imagine what a blow it must have been for her to find out that Lianne had just gotten up and had left her family.

Veronica had lost her boyfriend, her best friend, her friends and her mother and all that in less than three months. But then, it had been her choice to loose her friends, hadn't it been? Hadn't it been? There was this doubt again, the same small doubt he was feeling for the past few months now, ever since Homecoming.

And again, there was this small whisper of guilt. Damn it. He shouldn't feel guilty! Veronica had made her choice, he had made his and it wasn't as if she had been all that angelic. Hell, that girl had planted a bong in his locker, for Heaven's sake.

To make it worse, his mom still believed that he and Veronica had rekindled their friendship, no matter how many times he denied just that, saying that they were no friends, not anymore, not again. She just wouldn't listen. Instead, she ignored his protests and smiled that knowing smiles mothers sometimes had.

And just how the hell could his mom believe that he had missed Veronica? If anything, he had missed the girl he had believed he had known, had certainly missed how it had been before Lilly's death, the four of them together, building their own little family. But certainly not this Veronica with her short hair, that sharp tongue, that attitude and always dressing herself in those hot little outfits...

Fuck!

No, no, no!

He did not think that Veronica Mars was in any way whatsoever hot. Not one. She wasn't hot, she wasn't wearing hot outfits, he didn't find it cute when she was annoyed and had that certain look in her eyes as if she could castrate him any moment now and he sure as hell wasn't getting a hard on because of her!

That girl annoyed the hell out of him, had betrayed him, was constantly accusing him of this or that and had become a terrible know-it-all, so no, he really had no dirty thoughts whatsoever about her.

The bell rang and relieved, Logan snatched up his bag and went out. It was lunch time and he hopefully could finally forget about one Veronica fucking Mars at least for a while.

Duncan and Sean were already at one of their tables when he walked up to them, eating pizza. Their class had finished early, apparently. Lucky bastards. He grabbed himself a slice of the pizza and sat down beside Duncan. Duncan glared at him though and got up in a huff, ready to leave.

Right. His best friend was through with him. How could he have forgotten that? Probably also Ronnie's fault. He was almost sure that she had put that flea in Duncan's ear. Then again... she amazingly hadn't accused him of having stolen the money, hadn't she? Not yet at least. She had only said that she wanted to talk about the game with him and not once had even hinted that maybe, he could have taken the money. Was it possible that she didn't suspect him for a change? Wow... wonders never ceased to happen.

"Will you guys kiss and make up already?" Sean asked exasperated and Logan came back to the here and now with a jolt.

Playfully, Logan blew Duncan a kiss, grinning at his best friend, trying to make the best out of this fucked up situation. What else was he supposed to do? Throw a fit? That just wasn't his style.

Apparently, Duncan wasn't amused. Well, his problem, Logan thought angrily. If his best friend wanted to act like an ass - fine. At least he was showing emotions again. He'd prefer if it weren't that cold anger against him, but then, it was still better than his boring, sick puppy-dog eyes at Veronica.

Speaking of the devil...

There was a flash of blond and he just suppressed a groan. Great. Just what he had needed. Another charming encounter with Ronnie.

"So, good news, bad news," the tiny blond troublemaker announced, stepping up to their table, Weevil behind her. "The good news is, I know who stole the money. The bad news is, I _know _who stole the money," she finished, throwing a pointed look at each of them.

Despite himself, Logan had to grin.

"Here's my brilliant idea: _Filled_ with holiday spirit, Logan will host another game," she continued, looking at him.

What?!

"Will I?" he asked, amused.

She beamed at him, much like back in her pep squad days. "I'm thinking tonight," she told him cheerfully.

Well, apart from the fact that he for sure wasn't going to host another game, at least not for this round... He shook his head, grinning almost regretful. "Mm, no, my mother's Christmas party is tonight."

Like she very well knew. It was always on the same day, every year and Ronnie had even attended the party a couple of times.

"Mm, so no BYOB," she shrugged his refusal away though and squeezed herself onto the bench, next to Logan.

Startled, he held up his hand as if to ward her off and scooted away from her, giving her more place and putting more distance between them. It definitely was not a good idea to be too close to her and that faint scent of vanilla she always seemed to carry around her. Momentarily forgetting their fight, he looked back at Duncan who looked as surprised at Veronica's action as he himself was. She just wasn't supposed to willingly sit down beside him anymore, any less than he would sit down beside her.

"Here's how it will go down," Veronica explained the boys, never loosing that annoying smile of hers. "I'll tell you who did it and you'll buy me into the game. I'll just take the place of whoever stole the money." She made a brief pause, looking at each of them. "Unless you still might think you want him around."

Logan shook his head and pushed the pizza carton away. How in hell did she think he would ever agree to that? They may not be the enemies they've been anymore, but just go and jump when she said jump? He thought not. "You know, even if you keep talking, it's not gonna happen," he told her, firmly.

"Oh..." Ronnie mouthed, looking at them with big, confused eyes. "I thought you guys might all want your stuff back," she said, disgustingly innocently.

Fuck.

"Yeah," Weevil nodded from his position behind her. "If I get my five grand, some items could magically reappear," he told them amiably while he leaned down and took the piece of pizza Logan had retrieved for himself just minutes ago.

Double fuck, Logan thought gloomingly. They sure had them with that argument. He needed the egg back. If his father found out that it was gone... Fuck.

"And if you think about it," Veronica just had to perk up again as well, "anyone who doesn't see this as a great offer is obviously the thief. Kind of a no-brainer," she added, once a gain passing a meaningful glance at each of the boys before she stood up.

"Do you even know how to play poker?" Logan asked grudgingly, looking up at her. He couldn't see Ronnie knowing much about the game, even more reason why this whole idea of her was just ludicrous.

And sure enough, she shook her head. "No," she answered, her eyes becoming big and innocent again. "But it must be really hard if all you guys play," she continued, her gaze at each of them just mocking them, there was no other word for it.

Logan stared at her, contemplating. With a last smile into the round, she turned and went away, Weevil falling into step with her. His eyes still trailing after her, he heard her laugh. Probably laughing at them - well, she had every right to do that. She had gotten them fair and square, that much was for sure.

Just who was that girl, nowadays? The old Ronnie would never have been able to trick them as smoothly and expertedly as they had just been tricked by one Veronica Mars. And the new Veronica Mars... the angry girl of the past year would probably rather have eaten nails than to willingly speak with the 09ers, let alone making sure that she could participate in a poker game all night long, especially with him and Duncan there. And he for that matter would have rather faced the worst his dad would give him than to let Veronica Mars come to his house, let alone to play.

"Hey! Logan!"

"Huh?" he asked startled, turning his head to see Sean glaring at him.

"You just gonna let that bitch order us around like she's the fucking queen?" Sean asked hatefully.

Logan narrowed his eyes, regarding Sean for a long moment. "Why? You've got anything to fear?" he asked quietly.

Sean's eyes widened. "Please, don't be ridiculous. But fuck, this is fucking Veronica Mars we're talking about. Since when do we what she tells us to do?" He frowned at Logan. "Since when do you give her even the time of the day, let alone changing your plans according to hers?"

Logan's eyes chilled. His relationship with Ronnie, or lack there of, was no one's business, let alone Sean's. "I do nothing alike. But we will have that second poker game tonight, simply because I do not appreciate the thought that one of my guests had the nerve to steal the money and I sure as hell plan to have a word with that guy about that. Ronnie wants to play with the big guys and loose her last shabby t-shirt? Fine with me. Hell, could even turn out to be fun." He stood up and gave Sean a hard look. "It's up to you if you want to come or not - but if you don't I guess we'll just have to believe that it's been you who has taken the money and Sean, believe me, that's not what you'd like me to think."

Not bothering to wait for a response, Logan turned and left, suddenly just wanting to get as far away from Sean as he could. He wasn't hungry anymore anyway.

"Don't you think that was a bit over the top?"

Logan stopped and look up, somehow not surprised that Duncan had followed him. He took one look at Duncan's disapproving face, then laughed sarcastically. "No, actually, I don't. But what does it matter anyway? I'm a jackass, am I not? And a jackass is just programmed to be an ass."

With that he let his best friend stand, quickly heading towards the parking lot. He desperately needed some fresh air. And he needed to come up with an explanation for his mother why he held a poker game in the pool house while there was her big Christmas party in the main house.

That was going to be fun.

* * *

Surprisingly enough, Logan hadn't had that much trouble when he announced to his mother that while he sure would make an appearance on the party, he had stupidly already arranged for a revenge game that night, not realizing that the big party would be tonight as well. He suspected it had a lot to do with the fact that Ronnie was going to be there though because no more word of protest had come over her lips after he had told her that she was part of the poker night. Then suddenly, her face had lit up and she had assured him that of course it would be perfectly all right for him and his friends to have some fun in the pool house. And to not hesitate to come over to raid the buffet.

In some way, it was almost funny. There this whole poker game tonight had been Ronnie's idea to begin with and now it was her presence that got him off the hook with his mother.

He had had no idea that his mom had hoped for a reconciliation between him and Veronica that much, all this time. And part of him wondered why. She knew why he hadn't wanted anything to do with Veronica anymore after all. So why was she so adamant now that he and Ronnie became friends again, not wanting to hear anything into the other direction? Okay, his mother was famous for her whims. One month it was yoga, the next it was tennis, another month later she swore on Thai Chi. There were few things that managed to keep her interest period. Champagne. Her pills. Shopping. Her appearance. Money. Logan, as long as he didn't clash with one of the previous mentioned things. And yes, for the four years he had known Veronica before their fall out, she had also liked Ronnie, had always been nice to her. Still...

"You can as well deal out the chips as long as we are waiting for little Ms Snoopy," Sean muttered, giving Logan a slight punch.

Coming out of his thoughts, Logan glared over to Sean but did start to deal out the chips. Sean was in a foul mood, that much was clear. Then again, so was Connor Larkin, as well not too happy about being here, instead of being over at the big party where he could kiss some rich guy's asses. And Duncan wasn't the most cheerful either, broodingly sitting in his chair and making a business out of avoiding Logan's eyes.

The only one who was his usual charming, cheerful self was Weevil. And strangely enough, Logan wasn't feeling as glum as he had though he would either. Hell, he would never admit it out loudly but - in a way, he was looking forward to tonight. He didn't know when he had gone from being pissed to be forced into holding this poker game by none other than one Veronica Mars to actually looking forward to show her her place and see her loose every last penny of the money she had conned herself to buy herself into the game. Yeah, that was going to be fun.

Now, she just had to show up finally.

As soon as he had thought that thought, the door slipped open and their little, blond P.I. came in.

"Ho, ho," Logan paused and grinned over at Veronica. "_Ho_."

Veronica mockingly laughed, but her eyes did sparkle back at him for a moment, before she dropped her bag to the floor, her eyes glancing at the rest of the guys in the pool house.

"Allow me," Weevil offered gallantly and hurried over to pick up the bag, holding it out to her. Logan paused, watching the biker with a frown. Who'd have thought that the badass leader of the local biker gang could turn out to be such a loosy sucker and turn all gentleman on Veronica? "You want a soda-pop or something?" Weevil asked and suppressing a snort, Logan turned his attention back to the chips. Nice of Weevil to offer drinks that weren't even his. Out of the corner of his eyes, he glanced over at the biker, moving away from Ronnie, probably to go get her something to drink and caught an expression in Weevil's eyes that made Logan pause again.

Holy shit.

If he wasn't entirely wrong, Weevil wouldn't say no if Ronnie would ask him to give her a ride. Interesting. Ridiculous - but interesting. It sure explained a few things Logan had wondered about, ever since the biker had punched him a couple of times for taking out Ronnie's headlights.

"You know, I think I want something with a little more kick," Ronnie declined and distracted Logan from his observations by quickly coming forward and snapping up Duncan's bottle of JD he once again had brought along.

"Hey no," Duncan protested, jerking around, but Veronica had already lifted the bottle to her lips and poured it straight down her throat.

Shocked, Logan stared at Veronica as her head tilted more and more back as she dragged out her tip to a long, long swallow. What... Ronnie wasn't a drinker. Nor could she hold her alcohol. She may have changed but so much? With her mother's history? Nah. Never. For that she was too strong.

"Damn girl!" Weevil cheered her on, impressed.

Logan though wasn't so amused. He knew how fast Ronnie got drunk. And he knew how she was when she was drunk. And he had no intention whatsoever to let her throw up all over his pool house.

He was shortly before getting up and grabbing the bottle away from her when she finally put the bottle down, looking at it with a smile. "Mmmm... Ice tea?"

Wait... what?

Logan looked over at his best friend who nodded resigned. "Yeah."

Veronica came over and put the bottle back onto the table. "How very musical theatre of you," she teased Duncan and straightened.

Still not really believing it, Logan continued to stare at Duncan. He had played the drunk part?

"Duncan can't remember the alphabet when he drinks let alone figure out 20 of the pizza bill," Ronnie elaborated, walking around the table.

Shit... yeah. She got a point there. Why hadn't he noticed that, Logan thought as he snatched up the bottle to smell it, just to be sure. It really bugged him that she had combined that so easily while he, Duncan's best friend since kindergarten and most of the time there when Duncan had been drunk in his life, had been fooled. But it was ice tea, sure enough.

"No, he didn't play drunk to steal your money, he played drunk to win your money. To no avail it seems," she added sarcastically and Duncan made a face, embarrassed.

Logan chuckled. No... it really had been to no use at all.

"Oh, and Connor isn't a drug addict," Veronica continued and Logan looked up, startled. He wasn't? "I know - the constant bathroom visits." She stopped in front of Connor, looking down at him with that smug smile while Connor looked like having fallen out of all clouds. "He wasn't going for a fix. He was going because of the Sun Tea." Connor looked down into his cup and in that moment Logan knew that Ronnie was right.

Damn.

"It's that diuretic wrestlers down when they need to make weight or that actors use before they're half naked on the cover of 'Vanity Fail'," Veronica told them, causing Duncan to laugh while Connor too made a face, but at least shrugged.

Logan had no time to think much about that revelation because Ronnie's eyes fell on him when she moved to stand behind Connor, fixing him with that unrelenting stare she sometimes had, smiling. "And then, there's bachelor number three. And he's got it all," she said and Logan grinned. Oh, she loved that, didn't she? He wondered if she would finally start to accuse him for the theft.

"Motive," she started to list and slowly came back around the table towards him, her eyes never leaving him. "Access. Looks like an evildoer," she reached him and took a sniff at him, causing Logan to roll his eyes. Okay. She didn't need to overdo it like that, really not. "Smells like an evildoer, but surprisingly..." she stopped on his other side and he looked up at her, ready to hear her accuse him once again. "...not so much," she finished softly, looking him into his eyes for a long moment before she looked into the round again. "Weevil cleared him."

Startled, Logan stared from Ronnie to Weevil. What?

"He told me he searched the room but didn't go through it as much as he wanted. When I saw it, it looked like it had been raided by the FBI," Veronica explained and her eyes returned to Logan, meeting his again. "You had to tear the room apart looking for it," she said softly again and this time, Logan broke the eye contact by looking away.

She was right, sure enough... dead right. And all that without falsely accusing him even. Perhaps, she was better at this stuff than he'd ever given it to her. Then again, she still had to tell them who took the money. Still...

As if on cue, Veronica turned away from him to move to stand between Sean and Weevil. "So, two left. The boy from the wrong side of the tracks and the boy who lives in the most expensive house in the 09er zip," she said, glancing at each of them before moving away to drop her bag and take off her jacket. "So, you want to hear how Sean did it?" she asked, coming back to the table. "Ah, he's a crafty little bugger."

_Sean?_

"Sean didn't bring the Big Mouth Joes because he's cheap. He knew he couldn't leave with the money, so he didn't. What happens to garbage in the 09er zip?" she asked and made a pause for the rest of them to connect the dots. Which wasn't hard anymore. She nodded. "He just waited for the recycling to go out the next day and did a little garbage picking."

Okay, okay... perhaps Ronnie was right. Remembering Sean's reluctance for this second game tonight, and Ronnie's revelations so far, Logan even was inclined to believe her. It still didn't make any sense whatsoever though.

"Sean? What?" he asked, staring at Sean. "The guy has a chauffeur drive him to school everyday," he pointed out. "Why would he need to steal?"

Of course, Ronnie once again had an answer. "Funny story. When I went to Sean's, I couldn't help but wonder what was his dad doing at home, three in the afternoon, dressed in a suit instead of being at work?" she mused, her eyes narrowing down at Sean. "Unless he was at work," she concluded quietly.

Baffled silence filled the room as everyone stared at Sean who looked more and more uncomfortable.

"I have to say, I was a bit miffed," Ronnie then broke the silence. "I was this close to being able to say the butler did it," she said excitedly, but then sighed and looked back at Sean. "But no, it was the butler's son."

This time, the silence was uneasy.

_The butler's son?_

Sean glared at Veronica. "That doesn't prove anything," he spat, balefully.

"Well, that proves that you're a liar and the background check I ran on you proves that you've got a bit of a shoplifting problem," Veronica answered icily. "You are really bad at it," she added, hauntingly.

Holy shit, what?

Sean looked at them all, loosing his cool as he realized that the game was over - and that Weevil now knew just who had taken his money. Giving a nervous laugh, Sean quickly got up and turned to Weevil. "I can totally pay you. I have the money, I can get it right now," he rambled, afraid.

Uncomfortably, Logan stood up, as did Weevil. He wasn't sure why. Hell, he had no idea what to do. He never had liked Sean that much but he had been one of them, had hung out several times with him. And all this time Sean had lied and betrayed them? Hell... and just how often had he stolen from them? Surely, the money from the pot hadn't been the first time he had stolen something from them. Part of him was furious about that, about the years long treachery, all the lying and that part desperately wanted to punish Sean for that. And yet he hesitated...

"All right, why don't we take a walk so we can discuss a few things, huh?" Weevil asked, grabbing Sean at his neck.

"But you see, I can pay you, see, there really is no need for physical violence," Sean whined, nervous and scared.

"Uh huh," Weevil nodded unimpressed and dragged Sean out.

Logan stared after them, still in limbo. Weevil deserved to have a word with Sean. The guy had stolen his money and on top of that, had watched and done nothing as his so called friends' things had been stolen. But there was still that part who could not stop to think of Sean as one of them and therefore was more than on edge at the thought of the biker probably beating up one of them, his guest even, out there.

"Mind if I deal first?"

Ronnie's question brought him out of his dilemma and he looked down to see that she had sat down in Sean's chair, reaching for the cards.

Right. The game. Ronnie taking the thief's place. Sean's place. Right beside him.

Great.

And all of a sudden, Logan wasn't so compelled to go out there and break up whatever Weevil was doing to Sean anymore.

Slowly, he sat back down - and frowned when Ronnie fanned out the cards in a large half circle in a smooth move and then with another turned them over and gathered them up into her hand again. Still frowning, he glanced over to Duncan who watched Ronnie as amazed as Connor beside him. Logan looked back at Ronnie, just in time to see her fingers quickly dividing the cards into two piles to then shuffle them back into one. He stared at the cards, then back at Ronnie who was smiling a secretive smile like he had never seen it on her and he felt the corners of his mouth twitch.

What had she said? She couldn't play poker? Hmm... something told him that she hadn't been quite honest then. Actually, he thought as he watched her dealing out the cards, still with that smile on her face, he got the feeling that it wouldn't be as easy to win against her as he thought it would be.

And boy, he couldn't deny that part of him was more than just a little bit thrilled about that. Heaven knew that he had always liked a challenge. On the other hand though... this was Veronica. The girl who wasn't the girl he knew anymore. But then... just how well had he known that girl actually? The more he saw of this new Veronica, the more he wondered. She did all that P.I. stuff and actually did solve cases, as much she had proven tonight. She pulled pranks like a master. She had an attitude and was buddies with the fearful and dangerous. Had all that really just come practically over night? Or how much had always been slumbering in her, hidden from the world to see.

After all, Ronnie had been Lilly's best friend for like forever and if Lilly had been one thing, then bored quickly. She had many friends and acquaintances, and with a few exceptions, they had come and gone. Never so Ronnie. Ronnie, the best friend a girl could ever have, as he often had heard Lilly say about Veronica. Sweet, silent, innocent, angelic, good doer Veronica Mars who wasn't part of the rich and spoiled and not had the money the rest of the people around Lilly had - and she had been the best friend of wild, sexy, cocky, boundless, shiny, loud, out-going Lilly Kane, undoubted and unchallenged queen of the 09er bunch her age. Many had wondered about that, many had even questioned it. Hell, he himself had wondered sometimes and he had known just what qualities had laid behind that unspectacular shell of one Veronica Mars. Fierce loyalty, always having a smile reserved just for you to cheer you up, her silent support, no matter what, her rightful silence when you've done something stupid, always having time to help you, to listen and not ask questions and though she had also been a worry nut, you could have a lot of fun with her as well. And yet, he too had wondered.

Lilly though, she had usually laughed when one wanted to know why a girl like Ronnie was her best friend, just shaking her head and walking away. But sometimes she had answered, always claiming then that no one apart of her knew the real Veronica Mars - or they wouldn't ask such a stupid question. And if someone was dense enough to say anything against Veronica in Lilly's presence or in a way that it got to her, Lilly's retaliation was quick, harsh and merciless. Logan and Duncan too had punished anyone going after Ronnie, but it was mostly Lilly who had handled those - especially when it had been other girls bad mouthing her, which mostly had been the case. With the guys, Logan and Duncan would have had a word with them. Not that that happened often. Before, Ronnie had been well liked and accepted.

Though, thinking back to the last year and how readily some of them had turned against Veronica, going after her, spreading rumors about her and pulling pranks on her, he got the feeling that there had been more animosity against her around than it was let on. Maddison, Shelley and Dick becoming some of the worst tormentors of her - and his best lackeys in his personal war against one Veronica Mars.

Feeling quite uneasy about that thought, he pushed those thoughts away and picked up his cards to glance at them. Just in time he reminded himself not to scowl. He certainly wasn't going to win this first round. Sure enough, three minutes later Ronnie won, drawing the chips towards her to then deal out once again.

Weevil came back in and sauntered over to his chair to sit down, looking as if he had just taken a quick break to get some fresh air. Nothing at him betrayed what really had happened - whatever that was.

"So... I hope our little conman is still able to crawl away from the Echolls' estate," Ronnie said casually, picking up her cards.

"Yeah, Mom would hate if a bloody bump like that would ruin her party by marring the marble," Logan agreed automatically, taking a peek at his cards as well. Still probably not good enough to win, but at least they were better than in the last round.

Weevil shook his head and passed a glare at Veronica. "You know girl, your little story totally ruined my fun there. I was looking forward to have a word with one of those rich white boys. Instead, you gave me a pathetic butler's boy."

"Hey, I'm only the messenger!" Ronnie protested. "Fifty," she then announced and threw in the according chip. "You're not saying here that you didn't have a word with him, are you?" she then asked, frowning a little.

"Hell no," Weevil denied. "But I might have been a bit nicer that I would have been normally. So don't worry, the idiot's gonna live."

Logan snorted and raised Veronica for another fifty. "Wow, a social streak in the leader of a biker gang. You sure you won't loose your membership in the bad ass club for that?"

"I think I'm save," Weevil replied dryly and threw in his chips after both Duncan and Connor had folded. "But what about you? You gonna have to bleach the club house, now that your exclusive club had been breached by such a nasty little liar? Let V here do a background check on each of you?"

"Boys, play nice," Ronnie intervened and looked over at Logan. "My fifty," she threw in her chip, "your fifty," she threw in another chip, "and - another hundred," she finished and smiled sweetly at him, throwing in the hundred dollar chip. "But if you are interested in my services, by all means, just say the word."

Logan looked at his little pair of tens and with a face, folded. "Don't drool yet, Ronnie. I don't think we'll be in need of any of your services."

"There goes my new hard drive," she sighed remorsefully.

When Weevil shook his head as well, Veronica's smile widened and putting down her cards, she collected her chips. Frowning, Logan reached over to take a look at her cards. He narrowed his eyes. "You bluffed. You had absolutely nothing."

"I know," Ronnie nodded. "Last time I checked, the bluff was one of the most vital parts of poker - and most importantly, the one thing that makes poker the thrilling, interesting and amusing game it is."

"I thought you said you don't know how to play poker?" Duncan asked, frowning at Veronica.

Her eyes moved to Duncan, her smile not wavering though. "I lied."

Duncan's frown deepened at that blunt, simple answer. "But... you never mentioned it."

Ronnie shrugged. "You guys never asked - or invited me to a game for that matter."

Duncan was silent after that.

Connor looked from one of them to the other, his eyebrows high. "You've known each other for long?"

Weevil snorted, said nothing though. With a glance at Duncan and Logan, Veronica shuffled the cards once again and silently began to deal out the cards. Duncan looked away, not offering an answer either.

His eyes fixed on the petite blond next to him, Logan leant back. "For a while," he answered shortly and looked down at his cards.

Yeah... a while. Five years. And not just randomly. They had been pretty close for most part of those five years.

And yet was it only this evening that for the first time, Logan didn't saw the girl he had known as his friend or even the girl she had become this past year - no, he was pretty sure that he finally saw the girl Lilly had seen. Or at least glimpses of that girl.

A girl that was funny, witty and hell, sexy. A girl that had seen and knew more than she should have at her age. A girl, who stood up for herself. A girl, who was strong. A girl, who could surprise you time and time again.

Damn it.

So what... Did this change anything?

He focused back on her.

Maybe.

* * *

With a smile, Veronica put down her cards. With a shared grown, the boys threw in their cards, frustrated. Her smile widening, she collected her chips. Connor and Duncan were almost broke and Logan and Weevil had already lost more than half of their money as well so she was on the best way to winning. Another hour or two perhaps and they'd be finished, depending on how Logan and Weevil played.

Not that she was worried that she was going to loose in the end. She wouldn't have made this suggestion if she hadn't been pretty sure that she'd come out as the winner. But she hadn't expected it to be that easy.

To be fair though, they were all amateurs and in case of Duncan and Connor, they were bad players on top of it as well. One look and you knew if they had good cards or not or if they bluffed or not. Logan and Weevil were harder to read though but after an hour in the game she started to see the signs as well when they were bluffing.

"How do you do it?"

"Hmm?" Raising an eyebrow, she glanced sideward to see Logan fixing her with his eyes, his arms crossed in front of him. After the few comments in the beginning of the game this was the first time he addressed her directly again, that was, apart from the game related and necessary exchanges. Although, she had often felt his heavy gaze on her, studying her, as if he was trying to figure out something. And yes, it was freaking her out a little. Logan wasn't the type to watch and analyze, never had been. Plus, after the last year, this much attention from the guy who had made her life hell was a bit eerie. He may have stopped his relentless pursuit of her with cruel jokes and bad pranks but she wasn't fool enough to trust this unspoken truce between them.

Seriously - what was his problem?

He leant forward, his eyes never wavering. "Win. We've played what now? Two hours? And in all that time you only lost four times. How? Are you cheating?"

"If I were cheating I hardly would tell you how I do it. Now, that would be stupid," she pointed out, shuffling the cards.

His eyes narrowed further. "Are you?"

Her finger paused and she turned her head to meet his suspicious eyes. "No. I don't need to cheat to win against you guys," she answered honestly, couldn't help the grin at that though.

"Rich boy got a point though, V," Weevil spoke up, his dark eyes also lying on her. "If you don't cheat, how does it come that you keep winning hand after hand?"

Resuming her shuffling, she shrugged. "Why do you have such a hard time to accept that I happen to be good at poker? Or simply that I'm at least better than you guys?"

"Because, chica, I don't see you playing much poker this past year," Weevil pointed out and tilted his head to the side. "And even less do I see your former self and poker."

"Then again, we hardly knew each other before we entered this wonderful 'I do you a favor and you do me a favor'-thing we have going on," Veronica reminded him and started to deal out the new round.

"But _I _knew you," Logan said. "And though the Earth may shatter, but I'm with the pool boy here: It doesn't make sense."

"That's too bad for you guys," Veronica replied unfazed, a little surprised though that Logan publicly admitted to have been friends with her, once.

"You really could tell us how you've come to be so good at it," Duncan too joined their conversation, giving her a long look.

With a sigh, Veronica put away the remaining cards and shook her head. "Jeez, just let a girl be a little mysterious, will you?"

"Uh - no," the guys replied in chorus.

Seeing that they weren't going to stop, she shrugged. It wasn't as if it was a secret after all. "Fine: I'm good because I play since I've been five, I think. One of the old cops showed it to me and played a little with me whenever I had to wait for Dad, down at the office. And later, I've sometimes played when Dad had his friends over for their regular poker games. Happy now?"

"Now, was that so hard?" Connor asked and called out twenty.

Surprisingly, no, it wasn't. When she had come up with this idea to buy herself into the game she had hesitated a bit in the beginning because she hadn't been sure how good an idea it was to spend a whole evening with both Duncan and Logan. Especially so close to Christmas, it being a reminder of their own little Christmas parties they used to have, before Lilly's death. Just the four of them, a Christmas tree and a pile of presents. It was bound to bring up unwanted memories, for all of them. In the end, her hope for that money had won over her doubts.

And while it was strange to be together with Logan and Duncan in a casual manner again - it wasn't as strange and hurtful as she had thought it would be. Perhaps it was because Weevil and Connor Larkin were there as well. Perhaps the memories at those times weren't so raw and fresh anymore. Whatever it was, she was glad for it. Even though she knew she enjoyed this way too much. Not just relieving the guys of their money - but to be able to be almost comfortable with Logan and Duncan again. Her archenemy and her ex who probably was her brother as well.

Ah no - she was not going to ruin the easiness of the evening with such thoughts. Instead, she better concentrated on the game. She may be good and have experience but Weevil and Logan weren't defeated yet.

She shouldn't have worried though. Seven minutes later, she once again won. A rather big pot this time. But then, the game had also been the most interesting one so far, with both Logan and Weevil doing the best to beat her this time, risking more.

At their collective groan, she had to grin again. "A little impressed, aren't you?" she asked, smugly.

"You must be really unlucky in love," Connor commented, resigned.

Veronica choked a laugh. He had no idea - but he had a point there: one ex who probably was her brother and the other turned out to be a drug-dealing, two-timing, lying little bastard. Not to mention the rape. Damn right did she deserve to be at least lucky in the game.

"Okay," Logan spoke up, thankfully interrupting the trail of her thoughts. "I say we take a little break. Let the cosmos realign because _obviously_, something's up," he suggested, playing with his chips and looking anything than happy.

"I can use something to eat," Weevil agreed and Veronica couldn't agree more. Playing poker was making her hungry.

They all got up and left the pool house to wander over to the main house. When she had visited the Echolls the other day she had already seen to just what an effort Lynn had gone for her Christmas party but when she now entered the house to find herself in a white and red winter-wonderland, she was impressed. One could almost forget that they were in sunny California.

Their little group split up, agreeing to meet back in the pool house half an hour later and she and Weevil immediately headed over to the buffet. Veronica planned to raid that buffet good time. She remembered well from attending previous parties of Lynn that Logan's mom was very intent to have food that wasn't just exquisite, but actually eatable and even good, something that wasn't a given, as Celest Kane's parties proved. Perhaps it was because Lynn, and also Aaron for that matter, had grown up in a normal, middleclass family in some little sleepy town in the Middle East of the States while Celeste always had been rich.

Whatever it was, she intended to enjoy it while she could.

* * *

Shaking his head, Logan watched as Jake dragged out Celeste, more furious than he had ever seen him and couldn't help but wonder about the trigger for that. His eyes fell on a certain little blond girl, watching the scene with a frown and he laughed sarcastically. Of course. He'd bet all the money he had left for the game that she had something to do with Jake's outburst. She always was where trouble was found, lately. Not to mention that the Mars' had experience in pissing off the Kanes.

Slowly, he strolled over to her - not quite sure for what but he usually followed his instincts. Besides, it always was fun to rile up Veronica - either version of her. "You always know how to spike up a party, don't you?"

She looked up at him. "That's me. The wildest party lion in Neptune. Just wait until I start with the party games."

"Me, I personally look more forward to the table dance," Logan retorted with a smirk.

"That you would," she sighed and glanced towards the door. "You think Duncan will come back?"

Logan followed her gaze and shrugged. "No idea. But he was broke anyway. No reason to stop our game if he decides to go home with mommy and daddy," he assured her, having an idea what she was worried about.

"I sure hope so. It would be such a shame if I don't get the chance to finish whipping all your asses at poker," she nodded and grinned up at him, smug.

His smile wasn't as nice. "Night's young, Ronnie. Still plenty of time to win back my money and the money you've won from the others so far."

"In your dreams perhaps," she snorted. "In reality, you're going to watch me walk out with all that money from you guys in a couple of hours I think."

"I don't think so, no," Logan denied, shaking his head. "You've had it easy so far. That's going to stop now, though."

"Oh... now I'm really worried. I think I may be shaking in my boots," she mocked, rolling her eyes.

Logan fought an amused smile and was saved from answering by his mom announcing that it was time for her big surprise for everyone and asking the folks to follow the Santas.

"And what's the surprise this year?" Ronnie asked curiously.

Not even thinking about it, Logan shrugged and answered. "Some group in costumes from the 19th century singing Christmas songs while the best snow machines you can find in California are making it snow."

"Nice," she commented dryly. "But as I have still not eaten yet I think I'll pass on the fake snow and rather search for Weevil and my food."

"Having gotten yourself a little slave, Ronnie?" Logan smirked.

"Aren't you funny tonight," Ronnie sighed as she walked away.

Logan was about to send a last remark after her when there were suddenly shrieks coming from the other side of the room. What...

Frowning, he turned around, just in time to see a waitress ram a knife into his dad's side.

Eyes wide he watched in slow motion as the waitress drew back the knife, bloody now and his dad starting to stagger backwards and then collapse. There was a blur of motion and next thing he knew, his mom cradled his dad's head in her lap, crying for someone to call 911.

911.

Right. Call 911.

Coming at least a bit to his senses, he pulled out his phone and called 911. Pacing, he rattled down the information: name, problem, address. All the time throwing wary glances at his parents, the pain in his dad's face and the panic in his mom's.

Dimly, he heard a voice telling him that the ambulance was on his way and he closed the phone and then just stood there, not knowing what to do. What was he supposed to do now?

* * *

Still shocked, Veronica watched silently as some people tended to Aaron until the ambulance arrived while her Dad, still having a vice grip on the waitress who had stabbed Aaron, talked to the security guys.

What had just happened? One minute all she had been thinking of had been how very much she looked forward to win against Logan and the next, people had screamed, Logan's dad fell, a large red stain quickly forming on his chemise and her own Dad stormed in and tackled the waitress.

Sure, her brain connected the dots soon enough. The waitress had to be the stalker who had found a way into the party after all. But she still couldn't quite grasp it.

She glanced around. Some of the women had gotten hysteric and others were trying to calm them down now. A nervous buzz laid over the room because of the people talking in hushed voices. Some were trying to leave, to get out. Others watched with obvious curiosity the show enfolding before their eyes.

Her eyes fell on a tall figure with a pale face, standing immobile, lost, staring at his parents with wide eyes.

Logan.

Shit.

She was at his side before she had even realized that she had moved. "Logan," she called out softly.

No response.

"Logan!"

Still nothing.

Damn. He probably was in shock. Not that she could blame him for that. After all, this was his father who was profoundly bleeding onto the marble floor there.

Without thinking, she moved closer and grabbed his arms. "Logan!"

Slowly, his eyes focused on her even though they didn't loose that lost expression in them.

She gripped his arms harder. "He's going to make it, Logan. Do you hear me? Your dad is going to be fine," she told him, urgently. Technically, it was a lie. But the people tending to Aaron didn't look too worried. Besides, a stab wound into the side wasn't that bad, if she remembered correctly from the medical researches she had done over the last year, just for case. "Logan?"

"Fine," he repeated but she could tell that he wasn't quite out of it.

The sound of sirens nearing made her look back over her shoulder. Two security guys tried to clear a way for the paramedics. She looked back up at Logan, unconsciously moving her hands on his arms a bit higher. "You hear that? The ambulance will be here any moment now."

"And Dad's going to be fine?" Logan asked, glancing over at his father.

Yet... there was an undertone in his voice that made Veronica pause momentarily, before she pushed it away. "I'm pretty sure about that, yeah," she nodded, squeezing his arms.

Logan nodded and looked down at her. "And you know that how Ronnie? You're not just Nancy Drew, now you've got Doogie Houser covered as well and have made your doctor lately?" he asked sarcastically.

She'd have never thought that she'd be ever happy about Logan's famous snarkiness - but she was right now. If he could make his usual charming comments then he was being more or less okay. So she simply shrugged. "No, but I look Grey's Anatomy. And House. And ER. We both know that the good old TV is still the best way to learn things."

A new commotion went through the room and sure enough, there came the paramedics running in.

"I should do something."

At Logan's forlorn statement, she concentrated back on him. "Yeah. Stay out of their way so they can tend to your father," she told him firmly.

"But..."

"Logan, there's nothing you can do right now," she assured him and looked back at Aaron. The paramedics were already hauling him onto the stretcher and preparing to leave, Lynn hovering as close as she could, tears running freely over her face. She turned back to Logan. "But I'm sure your Mom will need you, once they're at the hospital." But they probably wouldn't let him ride with his parents in the ambulance. "Where's your car?"

"In the garage," he answered absentmindedly, his eyes focused on his parents.

Shit. That meant there was no way he'd get out any time soon. "Come on," she said and tugged at his arm.

He didn't bulge, just frowned at her. "I can't leave, Veronica!"

With a sigh, she shook her head and pointed over to the paramedics. "See? They're already bringing him out. You can't go with them and your car's parked in. My car's at the end of the street, you can borrow it but the keys are in the pool house. You coming now or what?"

His frown deepened. "I'm not going to drive your car."

She stopped. "Fine. Got a better idea? I'm sure one of the paparazzi outside would love to give you a ride."

His eyes flashed up and his jaw set - but he did turn around briskly and, with a last glance back at his parents, he quickly slipped out through the next balcony door, Veronica at his heels. Once they were back in the pool house, she hurried over to her bag and pulled out her keys. She turned and threw them over to Logan who caught them easily.

But instead of leaving, he stared at them for a moment, before he looked up, his eyes piercing hers. "Why are you doing all this, Veronica?" he asked, a bit aggressive but mostly, confused.

Veronica paused. Why was she doing this? Not once since the stabbing had happened had she wasted one single thought about what she was doing. She had just run on instinct. And the moment she had seen Logan, her instinct had told her to make sure he was as okay as he could be in this situation. To help him. It didn't matter what was between them now. They've been friends longer than anything else and it had been obvious that he had needed a friend right then. But honestly? She wasn't really sure why she was doing this either.

So all she did was offer him a smile and a shrug. "I'm just trying to get you out of the house so I can pick up my money in all tranquility."

He looked at her for a moment longer, then snorted. "Should have known that," he said dryly and without another word, left.

Sighing, she looked around the empty pool house, her eyes falling onto the box with the money in it. So much for her brilliant idea to join the guys in their poker game to win that money so she could send her dad to that baseball camp. What had she been thinking? She should have known that Santa wasn't going to give her such a nice little present.

Shaking her head, she moved over to the table, took the box and moved over to the nearby commode to put it inside, hoping that was enough to keep it save until Logan had time to take care of it. She left a quick note for Logan, telling him that the box was with the games, sure he'd get the meaning, then grabbed her jacket and bag and left with a last look inside.

Then again, she should have remembered that clearly, there was no Santa Claus.

* * *

"Here, Mom, take some coffee," Logan urged his mom.

She just shook her head.

With a sigh, he sat down beside her. "Come on, Mom. You've heard what the doctor had said. Dad's in no danger. It's not really that bad. They just need to stitch him up now and he won't even feel that as they've sent him to happy land," he tried again, pushing the coffee at his mom.

All the way trying his best to not sound too much disappointed. The one time his dad could be in pain for a change as well and of course they had drugged him up to his eyeballs. Lucky bastard. Logan just hoped that his dad would be in a hell of a pain once he woke up.

"I don't want any coffee!" his mom refused again and shoved his hand away so the coffee swept over.

Giving up, Logan threw the cup away and leaned back, closing his eyes.

He... wasn't quite sure what he felt. About the stabbing, about his father being hurt, about being here, waiting for the doctor to come back to tell them that his dad was in his room now. Frankly said, he still wasn't quite sure what exactly had happened. The waitress had stabbed his father, but why? He'd gotten a glimpse at the news when he had gone to get coffee. Of course they were already having a field day with this. They've said the waitress was an old affair of his father who was furious because she had lost her job and his dad had no further interest in her either. Logan didn't know how accurate this story was but knowing his father, they probably had gotten it right for once. And he found it almost amusing. Ever since he could remember, his dad had had affairs. It was no secret among the family, just a well ignored fact - similar to the fact that his Dad loved to beat the shit out of his son. Yet, not once had word about his many affairs gotten out. Now though... Oh yeah, the hounds were going to love it.

Too bad he and his mother would also be touched by all this - otherwise he'd lean back and enjoy the mayhem.

Was he glad that his dad was going to live? Yeah. Yeah, he was. Only because the way it would have happened today would have been way too good for the bastard though. His dad deserved way worse, for everything he had done to him and to his mother. And who knew who else.

"Did you call Trina?"

Opening his eyes, he glanced at his mom. Her face was unreadable though. He snorted. "She was unavailable. I left her and her agent a message."

His mom nodded and once again, they fell into silence, the clock inching slowly forward.

It was once again his mother who broke the silence. "How did you get here by the way? Did Duncan drive you?"

Logan kept his eyes away. He had yet to hear from his best friend. Then again, he had shut down his cell phone, once he had entered the emergency unit. And Duncan had left before all this had gone downhill. "No. Ronnie borrowed me her car," he answered simply, making a face.

Her sorry excuse for a car definitely wasn't his X-Terra.

"Really? That was nice of her. But then, she always had been very reliable," his mom sighed.

Logan said nothing. Part of him was inclined to contradict his mom. After all, the one time he had counted on being able to count on her, he had been bitterly disappointed. Another part of him inclined to agree though. While he had finally seen Ronnie like Lilly had probably seen her, during the poker game, the Ronnie that had given him her car keys was the Ronnie he had known all these years. Perhaps in another, harder shell - but the contents had been Ronnie pure. From the moment her urgent words and her small hands gripping his arms with vehemence had penetrated through his shock to the moment she had sent him away in her car it had been the sweet, naive but strong girl that had been his friend.

A friend he terribly missed, as he had to realize now. Sure, that had happened before as well - but it was only after her actions tonight that he truly allowed himself to remind himself just why Veronica Mars had been his closest friend after Duncan.

But then... Veronica may have shown more of the girl she had been once than in the whole time since their friendship had crumbled to ashes - that didn't mean she still was that girl. She wasn't. Just like he wasn't the same Logan as then anymore either. And just like Duncan wasn't the Duncan from then anymore. They've all changed and while he admitted that probably, there was still a lot of that girl in Veronica, she simply would never be that girl again. And the girl she was now...

He just...

Oh hell. It had been so easy when he had just been able to either love or hate her. Now, there was both there. Some aspects of this new Veronica he still hated. Some though he liked, new and old treats in her. And if he wanted to be honest: there were also aspects who attracted him like hell. Yeah... she was contradiction in person.

"Logan."

Blinking, Logan turned his head to his mom, seeing if perhaps the doctors were finally back. But no, she was looking at him in a serious way he almost never had seen or heard from her.

"I don't know exactly what has happened between you and Veronica after Lilly's death. You were hurt more than I have ever seen you be." And Heaven knew that there was a lot pain she had seen. "But you should remember that Veronica had been hurt too. And she had lost too. More than you, if we want to be honest. And it changed her, even I could see that. Still... What I remember is that you and her had always been good together, you making her laugh more and her making you relax more than you ever could with anyone else." Briefly, he thought she would touch his cheek, but then she drew her hand back. "All I'm saying is that you should think about that. Because it's still there, Logan, tonight being the best proof for that. Such a friendship is not something you find easily. Some people never find it. If you and Veronica have a chance to get that back - don't let it pass."

Speechless, Logan stared at his mother. He loved his Mom, despite all her faults, despite her escape into pills and alcohol and even despite her sitting by and let her husband beat their son - but she wasn't one for deep conversations, never had been. That she now, of all the times, chose to go all wise crap on him was - amazing. Especially considering the topic of their conversation.

Before he could find anything to say, the door to the waiting room opened and his dad's doctor entered. His mom jumped up and rushed over to meet him halfway, already asking about his dad.

A lot more slowly, Logan stood up and moved over to stand at his mother's side as the doctor once again assured her that his dad was doing fine and was just sleeping it off now, blissfully unaware of what was going on around him.

Always the lucky bastard.

* * *

Her cell phone started to vibrate sometimes around four o'clock in the morning. Not that it roused her from sleep. Veronica had laid in her bed for a couple of hours now, dead beat on her feet and yet she had been unable to fall into blissful sleep. No, instead, her mind hadn't been able to shut down and constantly thought about this disastrous evening.

About the fact that apparently, not Jake Kane had been behind those threatening pictures but Celeste. She wasn't quite sure what to think about it. As long as she had thought it was Jake, she had been pretty sure that it had something to do with the case. With Celeste being behind them... it could just be the quite drastic act of a jealous and cheated wife, trying to get rid of her concurrence. Or it could still have something to do with the case. Or it was just the cold-hearted bitch Celeste Kane had always been.

Then, of course, she couldn't help but wonder about Aaron Echolls. From the little her dad had told her, the waitress was far from being the only affair he had had. Actually, the waitress had been nothing more than a quick fuck while apparently, there were a lot other women who had had a far greater claim to Logan's father. After working for her dad for a year now, she wasn't that surprised - but the girl that had been over at the Echolls' many times over the years still was a bit shocked to learn about Aaron's adultery. Sure, Logan's father seldom had been home and when he was, she hadn't seen that much of him. Yet, whenever she had seen Logan's parents together, she had thought that they looked pretty happy together. Never had she suspected that Aaron was a notorious cheater like he turned out to be now.

It may explain though why Logan always had that air of contempt around himself whenever he talked about his dad - or why he was always smarting off at his dad. The P.I. work had taught her that the family almost always knew about affairs and she was pretty sure that Logan too had known about his father's many women. Probably even Lynn. And yet, she had never suspected anything. Logan had been her friend, a close friend, and while she had noticed the strained relationship between Logan and Aaron, she had always thought that it was because Aaron was so seldom at home, looked so little after his own son, not appearing to care that much about him unless he was at home and there were cameras or people around.

So yes, mostly, she couldn't stop thinking about Logan. How he was holding up, how Aaron was doing and why Logan had never said anything about his dad's cheating. But also about how he acted towards her lately, especially though tonight. This confusing mixture between the Logan she had learned to fear, the Logan who had become her bickering partner and the Logan who once had trusted her, had been her friend. One minute he was hostile, the next he was smirking and yet another he was looking at her like she was a stranger to suddenly do something decent like the boy she had known would have done.

And as unlikely as it should have been, when her cell phone rang at four in the morning and she looked at the caller ID, she was anything than surprised about who called her at that time of the night - and for the first time in over fifteen months. But what was even more strange was that she picked it up without even the slightest hesitation.

"Sorry, I think you've got the wrong number there. The ones you look for start with 999," she said into the phone.

"Funny - I think that's just what I've dialed," came the dry reply.

She smiled. "So sorry to disappoint you."

"I think I can survive it," followed another dry comment before he sighed. "What's the address of the trailer you live in now?" he then asked though, his tired voice taking the sting out of his words.

"Why? Wanna send an exterminator? That's too nice of you," she replied sarcastically.

Another sigh. "Look, I had a long night. Can't you just tell me the address so I can send you your rusty ride back?"

Refusing to feel guilty, Veronica told him her address without another remark or anything.

"Thanks. You'll have it back first thing in the morning."

"Don't worry about it," Veronica assured him and then, because he had decided to switch on decent, she hesitantly addressed him again. "Logan? How's your dad."

There was the briefest pause before he answered. "He's fine, under the circumstances. All stitched and drugged up."

Veronica nodded, relieved that she hadn't lied to him earlier on and his dad was indeed going to be fine. "And your Mom?"

Again a pause, longer this time. Then he sighed. "Took some pills and is sleeping it off in the bed beside Dad now. But she held up okay."

"That's good," she said softly and bit her lip, staring up at her ceiling. Probably he was going to laugh her off, but... "And how are you doing, Logan?"

This time, the pause was really long. But at least, he wasn't laughing. "I... I'm okay," he finally answered quietly. "Tired but okay."

"Okay..." Veronica said slowly, not that convinced.

"And in that sense, 'night Ronnie," Logan continued, the snark back in his voice. "Oh, and check the glove compartment in that joke you call a car. Something smells really awful in there."

Before she could reply, he had hung up. With a frown, she put the phone back onto her night table and settled back into her cushion.

What the hell had that last bit been about?

* * *

Like promised, a chauffeur rang at her doorbell four hours later, unfortunately just when her dad was down at the beach with Back-Up for a quick morning jog so Veronica had to drag herself out of bed, grumbling.

After the chauffeur had left she was just about to go back to bed when she remembered Logan's last comment. Her curiosity picked, she slipped into a pair of slippers and trotted out to her car. She got into the passenger seat and sniffed. Ha. She had known there was no smell whatsoever coming from there - unless Logan had planted a dead rat or something in there but she strongly doubted that. But why that comment then? She knew Logan. He talked a lot but it almost always was no empty, senseless talk with him.

Only one way to find out, she thought and opened the compartment. Nothing unusual but a fat, red envelope. Mistrustfully, she took it and slowly opened it. Her eyes widened and surprised, she pulled out a bunch of hundred dollar notes. The pot money. But...

There was also a short note. Confused, she picked it up.

_Just know that one day, I'll ask for a revenge. And then, you're going to loose, Henry._

_PS: Thanks. Logan._

Slowly, a smile spread out on Veronica's face as she carefully put the money and the note back into the envelope.

"You just wish, Logan," she muttered.

* * *

TBC!

_(Author's Note: Finally... One of my absolute favorite episodes. My problem was just that I wasn't sure how to continue. There are several episodes between the last episode I've covered and this one. In the end I decided to jump directly to this one here because really, Logan hardly shows up in those episodes and so only added a flashback here or there. Anyway, the next one should be out much sooner because I've got a great deal of that one already - and just so you know: it's a short one, far away from the length of this one. Hope you enjoyed it and thanks for all the comments, once again. I appreciate every last one of them!)_


	7. Of secrets and trust

**Chapter 7****: Of Secrets And Trust**

**(Clash Of The Tritons)**

She had no idea why she was doing this. There was no logical reason why she was doing this. Or why she had been doing this for almost a week now.

Shaking her head at her own stupidity, Veronica all the same sighed and got the super cleanser out of her bag and quickly went to be done with her work.

If she couldn't stop with this insanity, the least she needed was someone catching her doing this. She'd have to answer questions and she hadn't any explanation for her actions ready, simply because she herself had no satisfying explanation why she was doing this.

Or even worse, _Logan_ could catch her.

Then, she really would be at a loss of words.

That thought spurring her on, she quickly ripped more articles away form the locker's door and shoved them into the paper bag she had brought along. Once all the haunting pictures were gone, Veronica hurried to clean away the few ugly words written next to the pictures. It wasn't that much of a struggle.

With the past year she had had, Veronica had become an expert on cleaning her locker's surface. She knew which cleanser worked best and fastest.

Of course, this wasn't her locker she was cleaning and had be cleaning for the past week, even going to the trouble to come to school early, before anyone else.

Oh no, it was the locker of one Logan Echolls.

Wiping away the last scribble, Veronica stepped back to check on her work. The locker shone in its ugly yellow again, free and clean of any cruel reminders of the stabbing of Aaron Echolls and the resulting scandal of his many affairs coming to light in the aftermath.

Content, she scurried away, careful to not be seen. Really, how could she ever explain that she was doing what she was doing? There was no real explanation. None that made sense.

Or perhaps rather none that she was prepared to accept.

Namely that she was simply doing this to spare a friend unnecessary heartache and humiliation.

But Logan wasn't her friend anymore. And his feelings were of no concern to her anymore.

So she told herself that she was doing this because it sickened her how her fellow students could draw pleasure in an attempted murder and if that wasn't bad enough, drew an extra special pleasure out of shoving it into Logan's face that his mother had been betrayed by his own father, that he nearly had lost his father or that the facade of the Echolls' happy family life pretty much was shattered for the whole world to see the truth.

Naturally, the press had turned this into a very ugly thing and Logan was caught right in the middle of it. Flocks of reporters still camped outside the Echolls' mansion, and some even followed Logan here to Neptune High.

And Logan's so called friends? They seemed to enjoy the drama and accidental attention on them as being associated with Logan too much than to be there for Logan and keep him sane in this nightmare. So far, Veronica had spotted already thirteen printed comments of various 'a close friend of Logan Echolls, only son of Aaron and Lynn Echolls, stated to us that'-type... Most claimed to have witnessed Aaron fucking someone else while being guests over at the Echolls', other claimed that Logan was well aware of the affairs and had had a hard time to keep them from his mother in order to not hurt his beloved Mom. Or some of the girls, former ex-girlfriend Caitlin Ford included, swore that many nights, Logan cried himself to sleep after learning of yet another affair, desolate about his disastrous family home.

While she had no doubt that Logan had been aware of his father's affairs she knew that everything else was crap. She doubted that Logan had even talked with Duncan, his best friend, about his father's fling. On the bottom line, Logan was a very private guy - perhaps just because a large part of his life was open for anyone to see, due to the famousness of his parents, especially his father. And Logan and openly weeping? Please!

It took the murder of his ex-girlfriend for Veronica to see him cry in private, let alone in public.

Angry, she slammed the bag with the removed articles and pictures into the garbage and strolled into the next best classroom, getting out her history book to read the text the had on for that day, leaving the door slightly open so she could see and prevent if some other idiot tried to 'decorate' Logan's locker again.

Once again shaking her head at herself.

She just couldn't get it. Couldn't get herself. While she didn't necessarily have to join the Logan bashing going around school because of all this she really didn't have to go to such lengths in order to try to spare Logan even more humiliation over this. Actually, she had every right to enjoy Logan being haunted and taunted for a change after everything he had put her through since Lilly's death.

They weren't friends anymore, they were... Well, she didn't know what exactly they were at the moment, but it wasn't friends. Perhaps not enemies anymore either, but definitely not friends.

So why the fuck was she doing this?

It wasn't as if Logan would appreciate it, if he knew, which would never be the case, not if she could help it. Hell, he probably would laugh his ass off and then send her to the devil.

No, she must be doing this because no matter what had happened between her and Logan, Veronica still liked Lynn very much, respected her, and every last one of those ugly pictures and articles were an attack on her. Logan's mother didn't deserve that and Logan, no matter how many faults he had, loved his mother and was deeply protective of her. Like any normal guy should be.

You just didn't go and plaster a picture of a guy's mother to his locker and call her a slut or even a sexbomb. It just wasn't right.

And so many things were wrong here in Neptune, who was Veronica that she refused to help do the right thing when she could?

'_Liar, liar, pants on fire,_' singsonged a voice in her head to her that sounded a lot like Lilly.

Frustrated, Veronica tried to concentrate again onto the text she was reading.

Damn it all to hell.

So what if she basically did all this for Logan? Why not? Was it forbidden to look out for someone you used to care about, even if now you were much more his enemy than something else? These were special circumstances after all. Even the Nazis and the Allied Forces made a break for celebrating Christmas.

And all this was still a Christmas matter after all.

Right.

* * *

He had expected many things that day when he went to school, but it was certainly not to enjoy himself immensely.

But hell, getting to see one Veronica Mars being escorted out of the school by the sheriff, in cuffs none the less, just had to make anyone's day.

It served her right after sending him to the police by planting that bong in his locker. And to make everything even more perfect, Clemmons even suspended her for a week as well.

Oh yeah, to have been able to see that was worth any of the comments his school mates continued to make about his parents.

He didn't care much about the ones about his father, truly not, but the comments about his mother - they got to him, every single one of them.

Though, to be honest, he had to admit that compared to what he had expected when he returned to school after the holiday break, it hadn't been as bad as he had dreaded. Sure, there were comments, but few dared to say anything directly into his face and the ones that just 'happened' to reach his ears - well, he could live with them. But otherwise, it's been relatively quiet. Even his locker had been left alone so far.

Logan knew how things worked at this school. And he knew how to properly execute a haunt and taunt campaign against someone. Hell, some would say he was the king of those campaigns - first of them Veronica.

Perhaps that was the reason that no one had dared to launch a real attack so far - fear of retaliation. Not that he complained about the subdued mayhem. It just - he really knew how this school worked and he also knew how it worked when he and his family got to be the center of the public's attention. The lack of reaction now almost left him a bit on the edge and he had the feeling that there was something else behind all this.

But hell, he'd enjoy the silence for now and most importantly, drink in this glorious day on which one Veronica Mars was arrested and suspended.

And the added bonus of Veronica's very public arrest was that for a change, the rumor mill's top topic wasn't the screwed up marriage life of his parents but the latest crime of Veronica Mars.

Yep, life wasn't so bad today.

"Come on, I mean, who's really surprised here? We all knew she'd end up in jail sooner or later," Madison mentioned way too casual - and gleeful.

"Yeah - you ask me, she should have been sent there long ago," Shelley agreed, scrunching up her nose. "She always fit in much better there than with us." She shook her head. "Never understood how she was able to hook her fingers into Duncan like she had."

Involuntarily, Logan tensed and shot the girl a hidden glare. Okay, bashing the new Veronica was one thing - but bashing the old one an altogether other story - especially in relation to his best friend.

"I'm just surprised they didn't arrest her for prostitution - I mean, everyone knows she does it for money," Madison remarked balefully.

"And not just for money, if you get what I'm meaning," Dick boasted.

"Dick, we always get what you're meaning," replied John Enbom, rolling his eyes.

"You ask me, I think someone set Veronica up. She's too smart to leave a stash of fake IDs in her locker like that," Luke piped up, without looking up. When no one said anything, he looked up to see the entire table glaring at him. One didn't side with Veronica Mars nowadays, especially not a 09er, as Luke was suddenly very much reminded of. "What? I'm just saying," Luke mumbled.

Frowning, Dick smacked him upside the head. "Dude, you really need to stop talking like that. Or we start to think you actually like that skank. Did you forget what she did?"

Normally, Luke would just have ducked and not said another word. Instead, he met Dick's eyes and shrugged. "Man, I don't have the hots for her, if that's what you imply there. But I haven't forgotten either that because of her, I'm not in jail and not one of my bones had been broken. She got Hank arrested and the guy's not just a tank, he'd been in the business for years. I'm just being realistic." Shaking his head, he got up and left.

The stunned crowd left behind just stared after him. Finally, Dick laughed it off. "Stupid dude... How much do you bet he just wants to get into Veronica's pants, huh? No idea why though. I mean, who'd be crazy enough to want to go there?"

Enbom joined the laughter. "I think the better question is who hasn't been in her pants yet?"

Everybody laughed at that - everybody but Logan, who frowned down into his Dim Sum.

Fuck.

Could anyone please explain it to him why he wasn't joining the bashing and instead had to put every effort into restraining himself from beating the hell out of Dick and Enbom?

* * *

Veronica was seriously pissed. Not that it took much lately to get her pissed, but right now, she was majorly pissed.

It was one thing to play her a prank. But this prank had gotten her arrested and suspended. If she ever wanted to get a stipendium for Stanford, she needed to clear this up. Had those idiotic Tritons any idea just what they had done to her with those fake IDs? What they may have ruined for her? If she couldn't prove her innocence, she could forget about getting a stipendium at all, least alone one for Stanford!

Damn it!

Not to mention what her Dad would have to say once he found out. Thank God she could talk Cliff into stalling for now - but the second her Dad was back in town he'd get wind of it, of that she was certain. Lamb would love to rub it into the face of her father only too much that he had arrested Veronica.

Ugh!

Those idiots were so going down!

* * *

Angrily, Logan strolled to the janitor's office to get some cleaning devices. Usually, he would pay some freshman to clean up his locker for him but this was about his mom - he couldn't let another guy remove pictures of his mom or clean away words that referred to her in a none too pleasant way. So it looked as if it was up to him.

Fuck it.

He'd probably get suspended as well, though Clemmons hadn't said anything about that yet. The vice director had just warned him to get a grip on himself and that he'd call his parents.

Great. Fucking great.

This evening, his father would probably test if his still sore side was up yet to raise the arm and whip the belt across his son's back.

He knocked at the janitor's door and then stepped in, hoping to find Curly inside. No such luck though as it was old Mr Pitts who was sitting at the desk and doing crosswords from what Logan could see.

Startled, the old man looked up and eyed him with wide eyes. "Yes? How can I help you son?"

With a sigh, Logan raised his voice, knowing only too well that Mr Pitt wasn't hearing that well anymore. "Good day, Sir. Can you please give me some cleaning utensils for my locker?"

"What? Cleaning stuff? Sure, sure," Mr Pitt repeated and heavily got up to slump over to a large cabinet. "Which locker is it?" he asked curiously.

Suppressing another sigh as he wished the old guy would hurry up a bit, Logan answered impatiently. "W169."

Mr Pitt nodded and huffed as he reached up to take down a bottle of cleanser. "Oh yeah. That one had a row week, hadn't it?"

Logan frowned. "What?"

The janitor shook his head sadly. "Kids smeared it full ever since school started back in. I don't get it. Back in my days, such baleful smears would have been impossible."

Logan's frown deepening, he looked confused at the janitor. "What are you talking about? My locker wasn't targeted before."

Mr Pitt turned and smiled at him. "Sure it was. I know this school in and out. But your little lady friend made sure you poor boy didn't have to see that on top of it all. Gotta say, you've really got yourself a golden one there, boy, you better see to it that you don't let that girl go."

Logan stared at him flabbergasted. "Lady friend?" he repeated weakly.

"Sure..." Pitt confirmed, nodding. "But you boy probably have no idea about that, huh? Would surprise me if she told you about it. Otherwise she would hardly have come in early each day to clean your locker." He smiled. "Yep, you got yourself a real pearl there."

His thoughts racing, Logan tried to make sense of this. Who on Earth would... An image flashed before his eyes and involuntarily, he shook his head.

No. No way. She would never...

But she really was the only one he could think of who would do such a thing at all. Or rather said, she used to be the only one, nowadays...

It just couldn't be!

"Who's she?" he asked the janitor sharply. "What's her name?"

But to his dismay, Pitt shrugged. "Son, I'm too old to remember all your names. You kids come and go."

Swallowing down a groan, Logan searched for another way to get a confirmation of his suspicion. He needed to know. "Is she tiny? With short blond hair, green eyes, slim figure?"

Pitt nodded. "Sounds like her. A real sweetheart, always had been, ever since she came to school here. Always nice and polite, unlike _others_." A shadow passed over his face. "A shame what you kids put that sweet girl through. Hardly a week goes by I don't have to clean her locker. W129." He sighed. "I try to get to it before she does, but alas, my old bones just don't want to work along anymore. You kids..." He shook his head. "Just don't get you anymore. I'm glad I retire at the end of this year."

Logan swallowed and took the utensils the janitor had given him. "Thanks, Mr Pitt," he mumbled, then fled the sticky office, his heart beating fast.

So it had been Veronica.

But why on Earth would she do such a thing.

They weren't friends anymore. He was ready to admit that they weren't enemies either anymore, but this? This just didn't make any sense. They weren't anywhere near any terms that would propel Ronnie to go to such length just to spare him some hard feelings. Especially after everything that had happened.

_Ronnie._

That was the point though, wasn't it? This whole thing just screamed Ronnie. Their Ronnie, the sweet girl that had been their friend and who would have done anything for them. Just like the same Ronnie that was there for him when a madwoman stabbed his father and then lent him her car so he could get undetected to the hospital.

Reaching his locker, he ripped down the articles and pictures to then start wipe angrily at the smears, only too aware that apparently, one Veronica Mars had been doing just that the whole week. Or that the only reason why he had to do it today was probably because Veronica was suspended now.

Furious, he punched the locker.

Damn it. Why had that girl to always turn his world upside down? Why couldn't she fucking stay on one side? But no, not Veronica Mars, she had to wave back and forth between friend and enemy and...

No. And nothing more.

Fuck.

She better didn't hope that he appreciated her efforts. He didn't. He _really_ didn't.

_Oh hell!

* * *

_

She just couldn't believe it.

_Duncan?_

Duncan, always the good little boy, that Duncan was part of that stupid Tritons society? The same guy who was the student's president went along with the Tritons less than legal stunts? Helped them set her up? Helped get a boy into the hospital?

She just couldn't believe it. It made no sense. Everything she knew about Duncan went against even that possibility.

Then again, she did suspect him to have something to do with his own sister's death, didn't she? She sincerely doubted it and hoped she was right with not really believing that - but she did entertain the possibility.

Still...

She just couldn't believe it. Especially the part where he helped them set her up. He was one of the few people who knew how much such a charge would damage her chance to get a stipendium and he also knew just how much she wanted to go to Stanford. He _knew_. And to think that knowing all that he still helped them... it fucking hurt.

Wasn't it enough that he had already shattered her heart by breaking up without any explanation? Wasn't it enough that he might be her brother? Wasn't it enough that he might be a murderer? Did he have to have attacked her so viciously now as well?

On the other hand - perhaps he wasn't guilty. Okay, he was involved with those Tritons, but she only had the word of Rick that the Tritons had arranged for all this - and she couldn't say that she trusted or even liked Rick.

No... No, she needed to find out more, get to the bottom of all this.

And if it turned out that Duncan really had something to do with this whole set up of her - Well, then what Logan did to her after Lilly's death would be nothing compared to what she would do to Duncan. Her ex had gotten off easy so far but if he had done that, then she would no longer be Ms Nice.

* * *

This day sucked and Logan doubted it would get any better soon. Quite the contrary. First walking into school and finding his locker decorated with another round of 'art' which caused him to have to go to the janitor for the second day in a row in order to free it of all the smut.

And cleaning his locker, he was once again reminded of the astonishing and disturbing fact that, out of whatever reason, Veronica had kept his locker clean for the entire week since school let in and that he now had no idea what he was supposed to think about that - or what to do with this information. Should he confront her about it or should he just act as if he had no idea of her actions? He tended to rather do the latter, simply because he simply hadn't the nerve to deal with Veronica right now. Too bad he couldn't just conveniently forget the whole thing.

And if all that wasn't enough, he now even had to go to that stupid guidance counselor, Ms James, to talk about the loss of Lilly. Another lecher who tried to profit of Lilly's death and by God, he hated those bitches and bastards.

A study of the long term effects of grief in adolescence, he thought was the official reason for which he and every one else hardest hit by Lilly's death had been summoned. He didn't care what she called it, for him it was nothing else than prying into things that didn't concern Ms Rebecca James in the slightest.

What did that woman knew about loosing your girlfriend to sudden and brutal death? What right did she have to open up those wounds and drag up all these horrendous memories any sane people would rather forget? And to what use? So she could publish some stupid article in a journal?

Fuck it.

So yeah, he had had every intention do decline that session. But then Clemmons 'suggested' he'd better go and it would surely look good for him in that damn disciplinary conference the next day to show an effort to deal with his issues.

Logan couldn't have cared less but unfortunately, the vice director had also mentioned it to his father the previous day and while that alone wouldn't have been enough to bring him to go to that session, his dad of course had to tell it his mom as well and she hadn't rested until he had promised he'd go, she firmly believing that this was an excellent idea and it might help him get over Lilly's death.

As if talking about it would make anything better.

Lilly was still dead, wasn't she? And Duncan was still not the guy he used to be, wasn't he? And Ronnie was still the one who had to go and make everything worse by betraying them all, hadn't she?

But oh well, at least it got him out of calculus class.

Plastering a smirk onto his face, he knocked and stepped into Ms James' office.

* * *

"_You know, Veronica was my friend too!"_

Outside in the parking lot, Veronica's eyes widened, the vehemence and bitterness with which this short exclamation had broken out of Logan startling her.

So far, Logan hadn't told the school psychologist anything she hadn't known. Not that that surprised her. She had been stunned that Logan had gone to the session at all. Logan wasn't one to talk it out, she knew that only too well. And he thought even less about Ms James, she knew that as well. So she really wondered what had propelled him to agree to participate for that damn study. And now he suddenly actually started to really talk about that time?

Perhaps she should start giving Ms James more credit.

"_And if she hadn't ratted me out, then Lilly and I would have stayed together," _Logan continued, his voice breaking. _"And Lilly wouldn't have been alone that day. I would have been there. So yeah, I blame Veronica,"_ he finished with a force that cut right through any defenses Veronica had ever built up against Logan and went straight into her heart, hitting her hard.

Veronica stared at the radio and tried to process what Logan had just said there. He blamed her for Lilly's death? He really blamed her?

How could he do that? Didn't he know that she would have gladly taken Lilly's place if it would just bring her back? He had to know that, deep down, didn't he?

"_And I blame myself for being stupid and I blame Lilly for being a bitch that week."_

Shuddering, Veronica drew in a shaky breath. Okay, so perhaps he didn't blame her after all – at least not only her. She bit her lips. She had had no idea that Logan had thoughts like that. It wasn't his fault, what had happened to Lilly. Even if they hadn't broken up because of his kiss with Yolanda, there was no guarantee that he would have been there at the time of the crime. And even if he had been, who said that he could have stopped it? If he had been there he could have been killed too and Veronica would have to mourn the death of two friends now.

One was more than enough.

"_You know__, there is another way of looking at this, Logan. If you'd still been together, you might be dead too,"_ Miss James said softly.

'See?', Veronica told Logan silently, desperately.

He gave a strangled laugh. _"And what is so great about living?"_ he asked, his voice thick with emotion.

Shocked, Veronica sat up.

No. No, Logan didn't just say that, did he?

"_Logan…"_ Rebecca James sounded equally shocked.

"_You know what? This session is over," _Logan said, in the cold voice Veronica had learned to know only too well in the past year and a half. A moment later, the sound of a door banging close was heard.

Her hand trembling, Veronica reached out to turn off the radio. She had heard enough for now. More than enough. More than she really wanted to know. On the other hand, there was much that made a lot more sense right now. She had always thought that Logan's hurt reaction at her 'betrayal' was a bit over the top. But if he really had had thoughts like these, if he really had blamed her for their break-up, resulting in Lilly's death, all this time – then she was surprised he hadn't come after her more viciously than he had.

She sighed.

Was he right? If she hadn't told Lilly about the kiss, would they have still been together at the time of her death? Would Logan have stayed in Neptune, instead of going on his trip to Mexico and would he have been there, or she with him, somewhere, when her murderer had come by and had killed her? Or perhaps she would have gone with Logan to Mexico and therefore she would have been far, far away and out of harm's way.

No.

Veronica couldn't afford to dwell in what-ifs. She could have insisted more on Lilly telling her her secret. She could have gone with Lilly, after the car wash. Or she could have invited Lilly over to hang around her place.

What had happened couldn't be changed anymore. Besides, all these what-ifs may not even count, not with all the new evidence she had. It may have worked if Abel Koontz had really killed Lilly but now, that it was certain that he hadn't done that? No, Veronica was fairly certain that whoever had killed Lilly would have done it anyway, no matter if Lilly had still been together with Logan or not, no matter if she had invited Lilly to do something together after the car wash.

All Veronica really could do now was find her real killer and make sure he paid for what he had done to Lilly and therefore also to all those who had loved her like Veronica had.

And like Logan had.

* * *

When she had planted the bug in Ms James' office, the plan had been to put more light into who may have been able to kill Lilly or have a motive to do so. Not to raise more and more questions.

Veronica wouldn't say that she hadn't learned nothing - quite the contrary. She just wasn't sure what to think of all the things she had heard.

First she had to learn that apparently, Logan partly blamed her for Lilly's death. It explained to her just why Logan had been so brutally mean against her in the aftermath of Lilly's murder. But at the same time she couldn't help but ask herself again and again how Logan could really believe that. After the four years of close friendship they had had she really would have thought that Logan knew her better than that.

Then she had to find out that Lilly had kept some major things from her. Like her fling with Weevil. Oh, Veronica had no doubt that Weevil had just been a fling for Lilly. She had known Lilly's taste in men, but also her feelings for Logan too well for that. But obviously, she had made Weevil believe that it was more. What had Lilly been thinking when she had promised the biker that she would leave Logan for him, that it was over with Logan for good? Even if her and Logan really had been over, Lilly would never have committed herself to Weevil. Logan had already been a too jealous boyfriend for her taste but he had always played along in the end and made a good face to the bad game. But Weevil? He would never have tolerated her flirtious behavior and even Lilly must have known that.

Of course, that gave him an excellent motive, didn't it?

But frankly said, Veronica just couldn't see Weevil killing her. Sure, he was the leader of the PCHer and he was a bad-ass. Still, she had gotten the impression that at heart, Weevil was quite the softy. Or why else would he help her out time and time again?

And then there was Duncan. Duncan, who had some weird illness that caused blackouts and fits and for which he needed medications. Veronica had known the Kane siblings her whole life, Lilly have been her best friend since forever - but never had she even the slightest suspicion that there was something wrong with Duncan. Nor had Lilly ever mentioned something or even let on that her brother was suffering from some illness. Why hadn't they ever said something? Veronica had been Duncan's girlfriend, shouldn't they have told her at least then something about this? And did Logan know that his friend had to take pills so he wouldn't black out or throw fits?

Something told her that he had had no more idea about that than she had had. It looked like the Kanes had a lot to keep hidden.

After discovering all this, she seriously wondered how well she had known Lilly and Duncan really. She had had no idea about Lilly and Weevil, she hadn't known about Jake and her own mother, she still didn't know if Duncan had broken up with her because they might be brother and sister, nor had she had any idea that Duncan was sick. Or at least had some sort of condition that demanded of him to take medication.

Well, at least it had turned out that he really had nothing to do with the fake IDs in her locker or the boy that had ended up in the hospital with alcohol poisoning, she thought and, with a last glance after Duncan, turned back to her car. And, considering what she had seen of him in the past few days and especially this last conversation they just had had, it looked as if Duncan slowly found back to his former self. Probably never completely, no matter what his sister was still dead - but at least he wasn't this almost robotic person he had been anymore. Of course that may have a lot to do with the anti-depressives he had stopped taking.

Shaking her head, Veronica got into her car. She still would have to find out what illness Duncan had. And she also would have to find out more about just what had been going on between Weevil and Lilly and if anyone knew about them. If Celeste for example had found out about the two of them, she would have thrown a fit. Perhaps a fit enough to kill her own daughter in affect? And Logan for sure would have had a motive if he'd knew, but then, Logan had thankfully been out of the country. He was the only one close to Lilly who had a waterproof alibi and really, Veronica was glad about that. It was nice to not suspect someone of being a murderer for a change, no matter what else went down between her and Logan.

Pushing her thoughts away, Veronica started the car. The radio sprang to life as well but as it was still tuned to the listening device in Ms James' office, there was nothing but static. Right, she would have to remove the bug soon, before the psychologist found it. Not that she believed Ms James would recognize a bug and if it was sitting right in front of her nose, labeled 'bug'. It was better though to be cautious than to be sorry or even worse, get another suspension. But not right now she just wanted to get home, get Backup and go down to the beach to forget all this for a while. She reached out and searched for another station when suddenly, it crackled and sprang to the police channel she long ago had programmed into her radio. She was just about to switch the channel again, when a new call came through.

"_Dispatch, this is G12 requesting assistance for possible jumper on the Coronado Bridge. The abandoned vehicle is a red Dodge Viper, license plate ECHOLLS 2 blocking the northbound lane."_

"_Roger that, 12."_

Veronica froze.

_Echolls 2?_

For a terrible moment, her stomach clenched up in cold fear.

"_What is so great about living?"_

No. No, Logan wouldn't… he couldn't have… no. No, it just wasn't possible. He may feel depressed and lonely and he may blame himself at least partly for what had happened to Lilly, but he wouldn't kill himself. He loved life too much for that, didn't he? And even if... He'd have done it a long time before, not only today, wouldn't he? But he wouldn't do it in the first place anyway! No way.

Not Logan.

Blindly, she turned off the motor again and looked up, desperately searching for something to tell her that Logan wouldn't be so immensely stupid – and her eyes promptly fell onto Logan's bright yellow X-Terra standing behind one of the school busses in the rearview. She let out something that was dangerously close to a sob and took a deep breath in order to calm herself down. Who'd have thought she'd ever be happy about the sight of Logan's ugly but oh so noticeable baby?

Of course Logan wouldn't do such a thing. He was many things, but he never had been a coward. Besides, the police officer had talked about a red convertible, hadn't he? Stupid. How could she have been so stupid to totally neglect taking that in account and instead delve straight into panic?

But wait… a red convertible? With the license plate 'ECHOLLS 2'?

The little color Veronica had gained since she had spotted Logan's car drained from her face once again.

Oh God.

She knew that car. Had seen it in the driveway when she had visited the Echolls' mansion not even a month before.

Lynn.

But no, Logan's mother wouldn't… she wouldn't do that to Logan, wouldn't she? Okay, Veronica knew that Lynn Echolls wasn't exactly the most stable person, but she had to know that such a thing would simply destroy Logan, especially after what had happened to Lilly?

Didn't she?

Perhaps she had been kidnapped? That could explain the way her car was found as well, couldn't it?

It didn't matter. Not right now. All that mattered right now was that some reporters certainly must have heard the call as well and Veronica knew only too well just how fast those bloodhounds worked. It was possible that within the next half hour, they would fall school like the barbans just to get the first reaction from Logan or even better, being the ones to tell him that his mother possible jumped from the Coronado Bridge. Oh yeah, that would just make their day, those bastards.

Before Veronica really knew what she was doing, she had gotten out of the car and was running into the school.

* * *

"_I cannot take this anymore."_

Logan couldn't forget these words. What had his mother meant with that? Would she finally find the strength and leave his father and the hell that was their life? God he hoped so! Very contrary to other kids, he had prayed and hoped for a divorce of his parents ever since he could understand just what a divorce was. For him, it was far from being the end of the world.

For him, it would mean freedom. Assuming of course that he could then live with his mother, that she would get the custody. And that he'd never have to see his father again.

Something that hadn't been certain, not with Aaron Echolls posing as a doting husband and loving father. Logan knew that, would it have come to a trial years before, his father probably would have done everything in his power to get custody. For one because his father hated to lose anything that belonged to him, no matter if he cared about it or not. For another, because he would have known just how much the thought of Logan living with him would destroy his wife. Oh yeah, his father wouldn't have stopped before he had gotten what he wanted - ultimate revenge for Lynn daring to leave him.

But now, things were different. What his mother had done, leaked all those things to the press… he could see why. It would give his mother some sort of leverage in a divorce war. Even if it meant that all their lives were getting dragged through the dirt in public. But if it worked and they could finally get away from his father… then it was worth it, every damn article, and every fucking picture.

If it worked…

If not… things at home would get even worse than they already were.

His father had been furious. He had stormed out shortly after his mother had left, and had only stayed long enough to reschedule the disciplinary meeting with Clemmons, leaving Logan back and contemplating what to do now. He still had one last class, computer lab. And no, he wasn't very keen on going, especially after that scene, but Clemmons more or less ordered him to go back to his classes and considering how things were at the moment, Logan thought it wise to follow that direct order. Besides, the last place he wanted to go to was his home. Not with his father in this mood. So he went to his class. At least there he could sit into one of the boots and surf a little in the web.

So there he was now, with only few minutes left until the bell would dismiss him for today. He wasn't quite sure what he wanted to do afterwards, perhaps go hang out with the guys at the beach, though he wasn't really in the mood to be with company. Perhaps he could drive around for a while. He liked to drive, it always calmed him down.

At that moment, the relatively quietness in the room was heavily disturbed when suddenly, the door was ripped open and Veronica Mars appeared on the doorstep, looking around in what looked like almost a frantic way. Logan frowned. What was she doing here? Wasn't she still suspended for those fake ID cards they had found in her locker?

"Veronica?" the teacher asked, frowning as well.

Before he could continue though, Veronica took a step forward. "Director Clemmons wishes to see Logan Echolls in his office, immediately," she announced in a tone that dared anyone to disagree with her.

Confused, Logan and the teacher stared at her.

"Well then…" the teacher said after a moment and turned to Logan. "I guess you've heard it, Logan."

Hmm. Contrary to the teacher, Logan didn't buy Veronica's story so easily. Foremost, Clemmons would never use Veronica as the messenger girl, especially when she was suspended. And then, Logan knew her long and good enough now to be able to tell when she was lying. Why she was doing this was beyond his knowledge but then, hardly anything that girl did lately made any sense to him. And as he still didn't know how to react to her about her secretively cleaning his locker he definitely wasn't ready to have a chat with her yet. But if it gave him the opportunity to leave a bit early, all the better. He could always ditch Veronica as soon as they were outside. So Logan nodded and got up, gathered his things and went over to Veronica, who immediately turned and headed out, Logan following her.

"Come on, hurry up," Veronica murmured as she turned left.

Smirking, Logan shook his head. "Now Ronnie, I know all these days away from school must have been like an eternity for you, so it's no wonder you no longer find your way around here, but don't worry, I'll help you out." He pointed to the right. "Clemmons' office's that way, you remember?" he said in an awful helpful voice.

Instead of narrowing her eyes, Veronica simply shook her head. "We don't have time for this now, Logan. Come," she told him and, to his utter surprise, took his hand and dragged him after her for a few steps, until Logan recovered enough from his shock to come to a stop, digging in his feet.

"Jeez Veronica, I always knew you wanted to drag me away and have your way with me, but don't you think that's a bit fast?" Logan teased, but he felt unease settle down in his stomach.

Veronica acted weird. And she usually only acted weird when something was going on.

Something, he definitely wouldn't like.

Again, Veronica didn't really react to his taunt and simply rolled her eyes in exasperation as she looked back at him. "Look, I know this may be hard for you, but just trust me on this. We're going to the parking lot where you'll get into your car and head on the fastest way home," she said in an urgency that made the unease in his stomach grow.

"What?"

"Logan, please, do yourself a favor, don't ask questions and just do what I say," she pleaded him and turned away, trying to drag him after her again. But Logan wouldn't bulge. "Logan, come _on_!"

He shook his head. "What is going on, Veronica?" he instead demanded to know, his voice having lost any trace of mock.

She didn't answer, just tried to pull him with her again.

Narrowing his eyes, Logan tugged at her hand himself, yanking her towards him. "Listen, I'm not doing another step until you tell me what the _hell_ is going on here," he told her fiercely.

She looked up at him and their eyes met for a long moment. Eventually, she closed her eyes and sighed. When she looked up at him again, something soft had entered her green eyes - something he hadn't seen in them in over a year - at least not directed at him. The unease turned to cold dread. "Honestly Logan, I'm not sure what exactly is going on. Really. And I don't want to tell you something that isn't true. But I _know_ that you need to get home on the fastest way now, okay?"

Unsure what to believe or do, he stared into her eyes, trying to figure out if he should trust her or not. Their – relationship – may have slightly ameliorated but still too much had happened before than for him to simply be able to trust her again. He had done that before and learned his lesson. And yet…

"Why should I trust _you_ of all people, Veronica?" he asked quietly, more to himself than to her, really.

Her eyes widened and there was a moment he thought she'd finally give up. Then though something entered her eyes that he didn't recognize. It sure wasn't hate or pain or even offense. Nor anything like laughter or happiness. No, it was – something else.

"I know we're not exactly on the best terms right now, Logan, but we used to be friends. We used to trust each other." She swallowed and looked down, before she met his eyes once again. "We both have said and done our part to shatter that trust, shred those strings of friendship and for a few things on my part, I'm sorry. But as tense as things are between us nowadays, I haven't forgotten the old days, Logan. _Nothing_. I don't think though that there's anything I can do or say for you to believe or even trust me right now. Yet, I'm still asking you now, on the base of our forgotten friendship, to trust me and do as I tell you."

For another moment that felt like eternity, Logan stared into her eyes. There was nothing than sincerity in her eyes now. With the old Veronica who had been his friend, he'd have trusted her and that sincerity blindly. And now… Now he was surprised to find himself trusting even the new Veronica, his - whatever she was nowadays. Perhaps not blindly, rather warily actually – but he trusted her nonetheless.

He looked over her head outwards toward the parking lot and gave a tight nod. "Fine," he said shortly, not really wanting to talk to her anymore. With a few quick steps, he went past her. Then though he stopped and turned back to her abruptly, finding that she had merely turned to watch him go but hadn't moved otherwise. "This better not be another stupid joke of yours, Ronnie, or I swear to God, you'll regret it."

Not waiting for her response, and knowing her he was pretty sure that she had one, he did as she had told him and swiftly left the building, heading over to his car. He got in, started the car and pulled out of the parking lot to head home with more than just a few miles over the limit. But the urgency in Veronica's voice and the sincerity in her eyes urged him to hurry though he kept asking himself all the way home just why he was doing this.

He must be crazy to trust Veronica like that and follow her suggestion to go home, despite his resolution to avoid just that for a while.

By the time he neared his gate, he was almost ready to simply drive by and follow his original plan. Then he saw the crowd of paparazzi in front of the gate. That alone wasn't anything special, especially not since the whole stabbing incident. But the crowd was unusually large, even for these days, almost as bad as the night and day following his dad's stabbing.

The unease in his gut was back full force. His jaw clenching, he pushed his way through the crowd, activating the automatic gate opener. He drove through as fast as he could, the guards on the gate preventing anyone to come in after him. The presence of the guards was another bad sign. But what made the unease he was feeling change into dread was the police car standing right behind his father's car. He parked his car and stared at the police car for a moment.

Finally, he took a deep breath and got out of his car, moving quickly into the house, the main hall. His father, Sheriff Lamb and another deputy looked up, startled. Logan took in his father's pale, shocked face, Lamb's regretful one and the pitiful expression in the deputy's eyes and strangely, the only thing he could think was 'Damn it, why has Veronica to always be right?'

"Logan," his father called out, his voice breaking.

Slowly, Logan looked from one man to the other. "What happened?" he asked.

He didn't want to hear it. Whatever it was, it couldn't be anything good. It could only be bad, very bad. The last time he had gotten such looks was right after Lilly had died. But he needed to know anyway.

"Your mother… Lynn…" his father tried to say but his voice failed him once again.

The dread turned into flat out panic in an instant. But Logan held tight to his control. He wouldn't loose it. Not in front of these men. His hands balling into fists, he stared at his father, willing him to tell him what had happened to his mom but his dad had turned away from him, his hands on his face.

"What?" Logan asked impatiently.

When his father still wouldn't tell him what he needed to know, he turned his eyes onto Lamb. There was no love lost between them. And just because of that he trusted the dumb sheriff to finally give him a straight answer.

He wasn't disappointed.

"We found the car of your mother on the Coronado Bridge, abandoned," Lamb told him.

Logan swallowed, his fingernails digging into the palm of his hands. "And Mom…"

Lamb shook his head. "We haven't found her yet. We did found a note though." He made a short pause. "On her blackberry."

His breathing being a bit rushed, Logan took all that in. His mom's car. Left on a bridge. A note…

"You think she jumped," he concluded tonelessly, starring into Lamb's eyes.

This time, Lamb didn't answer. He didn't need to. His face – all of their faces - said enough.

Logan shook his head. "No. No, she wouldn't have done that. Not her. Not Mom," he said with vehemence.

Finally, his father turned around again, his eyes brimmed with tears. "Logan. I know…"

"_NO!_" Logan hissed and feeling his control slip, he turned and escaped. His heart beating fast, he moved blindly towards his parent's bedroom, his mind repeating 'no, no, no' over and over again. His mom wasn't… she just couldn't… she would never have left him alone with that bastard!

Never!

Frantic, he looked around. She just wouldn't… there was some other explanation. There _had_ to be. She wasn't dead. She _wasn't_. Perhaps she wanted _him_ to believe that, but Logan knew that she'd never let him believe that as well.

"_I cannot take this anymore.__"_

No, no, no! Not in a million years would his mom let him down like that, do that to him. They held together, that had always been there silent pact in order to survive this living nightmare. She wouldn't break that silent promise. They could say what they wanted, Logan knew it better. Screw that fucking note. He just had to find her true note, the note meant for him and only him, the note that would confirm…

His eyes fell on something unfamiliar on his mom's dresser, something silvery. With two big strides he was over there, for a second just staring at the object.

'Mom's lighter,' he thought amazed. She never left it behind; it was always in her purse, so…

Suddenly, it made click. Slowly, he reached out to take it into his hand. With his fingers, he traced over the inscription on it.

FREE AT LAST

His hand closed around the lighter tightly and he gave a relieved sob.

He had known it!

She wasn't dead.

* * *

TBC!

_(Author's Note: Yeah, yeah, I know, part of this probably isn't very likely to have occurred behind the scenes. On the other side, I did found it interesting that Logan's locker was mutilated the day after Veronica got suspended. And I just think there had to be a few more things going on between Veronica and Logan for him to come to her for help and then also fall so quickly for her. But hey, for that we have ff, don't we? To live out our fantasies about our most favorite characters/scenes/episodes. By the way, has anyone an idea what's up with now? First I couldn't upload for almost a week, now that works again but instead, I don't get any alerts anymore. Not of reviews, updates or even personal messages... Nothing comes through anymore. And of course, again no means to complain somewhere about that. Grrrr! Sorry, but it's really frustrating! Anyway, I wanted to thank you for the great reviews once again! Hope you enjoyed this one. It actually was the start of this whole story, or rather said the last part since Veronica listened to Logan's session. I just couldn't believe we never even got a comment from her about what she heard there! So I went and wrote it. Then thought I couldn't let it stand like that, especially as I planned to do a few other follow ups. So I went and started with the pilot. And I'm talking too much, sorry. Next will be the coverage of Mars vs. Mars. Already looking forward to that one!)_


	8. Of hope and friendship bracelets

**Chapter 8: Of Hope And Friendship Bracelets**

**(Lord of the Bling/Mars vs. Mars)**

This was a bad idea.

A really, really bad idea, Logan thought glowering, staring at the apartment complex in front of him. He was parking in front of it for at least half an hour now, trying to find a way to avoid this. Coming up with nothing. No one believed him, not even his best friend. Actually, Duncan had looked as if he was short of calling the psychiatrist when Logan had told him at the funeral that his mother was still alive. It was clear that he sure as hell wasn't going to help him find his mom, as Logan had hoped originally. So much for their friendship. Okay, even if Duncan didn't believe him - he at least could have offered his support, indulging him for the moment, until Logan was sure one way or another.

But she just had to still be alive. She wouldn't have abandoned him, leaving him all alone with his dad. If she had wanted to do that, she would have done that a long time ago, when she had first realized who Aaron Echolls really was. But she had stuck around, she had tolerated all the affairs and in her way, she had done what she could to protect him and at least make it tolerable for him. She wouldn't have left him. And she wouldn't have jumped off a bridge. It was just not possible, totally out of character for his mom. Even if she really had wanted to... to kill herself, she wouldn't have done it this way. Her beloved pills would have been her choice, he was sure of that. And she'd have left him a letter or some other note, just for him, not some stupid, non-personal note on her blackberry.

He looked down, at the lighter in his hand, his thumb stroking once again over the inscription 'FREE AT LAST'.

And she would have given him her father's lighter in person - or with the note, but she wouldn't just have left it behind on her nightstand.

No, she was alive. She was still out there, somewhere.

Of that he was convinced.

But... but he wasn't completely sure. There was this small doubt that continued to plague him. He needed to know for sure. Not necessarily needing to know where she had hidden herself, but that she was indeed still alive, having fled his dad and waiting somewhere until it was safe for her to resurface again. He just needed to know that much.

So here he was. Glaring miserably at the complex in front of him again, he sighed. Yeah, he needed to find his mother, but he knew he couldn't do it alone. He'd need help, someone who knew where to look, how to look, for what signs one needed to look out for in order to find a person who pretended to be dead. Of course he could have gone to a real P.I.. But thing was - he didn't trust them. Hell, at the moment, he didn't trust anyone, especially not some stranger. Most of all, he didn't trust any P.I. not to go to his dad in the end, letting him know that Logan was searching for his mother, believing her still alive. He couldn't risk that. His mom would hardly have gone to all this trouble to get away from him only for Logan to then tip his dad off.

No, he needed to find someone he trusted enough not to talk about his search to anyone, let alone his father.

There had been only one name he could think of, one person that he trusted to help him in the end and boy, had he resented that resolution.

Veronica fucking Mars.

It was insane to even think about it. To go to her of all people, for this big and personal favor no less. Not that he planned to ask for a favor. He was going to hire her and pay for her services. But he knew that even then - it was still basically one major favor he was going to ask for. And to trust her of all people, after everything that had happened, that she had done - and that he had done, he admitted grudgingly - was just hilarious.

He was desperate though and in desperate times you sometimes have to do desperate things - like going to your archenemy for help.

His eyes fell on the envelope on the seat beside him. Staring at it for a moment, he slowly reached out to take out the picture and the simple card. The picture showed him with his mother, standing by their pool. It was a snapshot, his mom with her hand on Logan's cheek, smiling, probably having wiped away something, and him on the verge of avoiding her motherly hand, but grinning mischievously none the less. It was a happy picture and showing off a loving mother-son moment. He couldn't remember that particular moment, having no idea either when it had been taken - but the instant he had seen it, he had loved it. It had also overwhelmed him, not having expected something like this in the least when he had opened the plain envelope, addressed solely to him. That had caught his attention. Most cards or flowers that had been sent after his mother's supposedly suicide had been addressed to the family or to his father - but not solely to him. So, curious, he had actually opened it on the spot and had not just thrown it onto the growing pile that probably was going to land in the garbage without ever having been opened. And this picture had fallen into his hands. And he had just _known_ from whom it was, even before he had read the card, immediately recognizing the handwriting.

_Thought you might want this._

_I'm sorry, Logan, really, I'm so sorry._

_Ronnie_

Naturally, he had never expected something like this from Veronica. The only sincere condolence note he had gotten and probably the most honest one of them all. Not to mention the most thoughtful.

Yet, he couldn't even say that he was all that much surprised by this card from Ronnie. _Ronnie_, not Veronica. It was after all just like the Ronnie he had known. Something to show him that she had thought of him and that she truly was sorry for what had happened. Like it had also been that Ronnie who had taken the picture in the first place, probably at one of the many times she had been over. And perhaps, her signing the note with Ronnie meant that she too had remembered that time between them and therefore had signed it with his nickname for her, as a gift from that old friend he once had had.

Then again, it had been _Veronica_ who had lend him her car without hesitation so he'd be able to join his parents at the hospital after the stabbing. Veronica, who urged him to go home the day his mother's car was found on the bridge and therefore had seen to it that he wasn't cornered by reporters in the school to find out about his mom possibly jumping off the bridge.

Those were the actions of a friend, not an enemy. And yeah, it was true that they weren't really that much of enemies anymore. Not for a while now. But not friends again either and there was the problem. He didn't know where they stood and he just couldn't figure that girl out anymore. One second she was that annoying Veronica she had been this last year, the next she morphed back to the Ronnie he had known and then she switched to this new Veronica, who was a mixture between them both, sometimes friendly, sometimes bickering, sometimes blaming him for this or that again and all the while just so damn confusing.

So perhaps, this note had come not just from the old Ronnie but also this new Veronica. And maybe, just maybe, he could count on her to help him once again.

He leaned forward, letting his head rest against his hands on the steering wheel. Truth was, though she had every right to simply shut the door into his face and laugh her ass off - he doubted she'd do that. Actually, he was pretty sure that she was going to help him. Not because of the money she'd get for it - but because she simply couldn't find it in her to turn him down. She just wasn't like that. Her destroying the very bong she had planted in his locker in the first place, her helping him find that stupid biker who had stolen his mother's credit card and his girlfriend, her rushing to whisk Duncan away to the hospital after the jump he had taken off the bleacher, her working with him in order to give Lilly a proper memorial, her helping Luke not to get beaten to a pulp by that drug dealer, her helping them all find the stolen money of the poker game, her standing by him after his father's stabbing, taking care of him, her lending him her rusty ride, her cleaning his locker of pictures and articles about his two-timing dad and betrayed mom, and hell her once again going out of her way to help him avoid the reporters and get home to learn the news of his mother's supposedly suicide all had proven that much to him. But if she wasn't like that, then why had she turned away from him after Lilly's death, betrayed his trust like that? Then again, had he really had the right to expect that she'd ever choose him before her dad? Having had time to think about it, and actually also doing it, he guessed not. And he had made clear that if she sided with her dad that she was dead to him then. But he had been kind of blind back then, with grief over Lilly's death, hate for her murderer and then incredulity after learning that the sheriff, Veronica's dad, actually suspected _Jake_ of all people. And he blamed Ronnie for not talking sense into her dad, making him look for the real killer and not waste time by interrogating Jake Kane.

But how realistic had that been actually? Could Veronica even have had a chance to change her father's mind? Heaven knew he had no influence whatsoever over his own father's choices and decisions. Then again, his relationship with his dad was worlds away from what Ronnie and her dad had. But really, even then, could she have done anything to stop her father from chasing ghosts? And, thinking hard over it, not once had he actually heard her blaming Jake Kane as well. She had stood with her father yeah - but had she believed Jake Kane guilty as well? He had never bothered to ask, of course. Nor had he ever cared to ask her if she _had_ tried to change her father's mind in the end.

Did it matter anyway?

He wasn't sure. Perhaps. It would maybe make it easier to go to her for help now. Or perhaps not. He just didn't know anymore.

And in the end, all this wasn't important anyway. Fact was that she was the only one he could think of who could possibly help him find his mother - besides her dad perhaps, but given the choice between her or her dad he'd always go for her. Because they were friends once. Because despite everything, she had come through for him lately. Because she knew exactly what it meant when your mom left you. And because his mom had always liked Veronica, had even told him to try to get their friendship back. And because Veronica had also liked his mom, her, not her name, not her movie figures, nor her good-looking body, just her as she really had been.

And because, in a way, he trusted her - honesty more than anyone else. It was the one thing he always had been able to count on, if he liked it or not.

Right.

Taking a deep breath, he got out of his car and slowly made his way over to the door to the Mars' apartment. It was dark in the room he could see from there, but he knew she was there. Well, her car was parked in front of the complex. At least her dad wasn't home. He had seen him leaving a while ago in a car he assumed was his. So it would just be her and him.

Oh joy.

He was doing this for his mother, he reminded himself sternly and before he could have another spell of doubts and resentment against this whole idea, he knocked on the door, perhaps with more force than it was necessary. But hell, he didn't have to like it that he had to come here, begging her for help, did he?

If she really could find him his mother though... he wrapped his arms around his body, suddenly feeling cold - and vulnerable. But if she did, then all the humiliation, awkwardness and pain this step cost him would be worth it. _If_ she agreed to help him, he reminded himself, suddenly not so sure about that anymore.

One thing was for sure though: if she really turned him down now then this - whatever it was between him and Veronica Mars at the moment - would be over forever. That he swore himself.

At last, the door opened, revealing a more than just a little surprised Veronica upon seeing him on her doorstep.

"Logan?" She asked, perplexed. "What are you doing here?"

This was it. The moment of truth. He huddled his arms closer around him, as if to brace himself. "I want you to find my mother," he cut right to the chase, simply not having the nerve to first engage into small talk.

Heaven knew small talk between him and Veronica Mars would be preposterous anyway.

Her eyes widened and she seemed pretty much speechless. Quite a task to accomplish these days, he congratulated himself sarcastically in his mind. He was here for a reason though and the faster he got this over with, the better. "Relax. I'm not asking you to drag the lake. My mother didn't really kill herself."

She regarded him for a moment longer, but then she sighed and opened the door further. "Come inside, okay?" she said softly and stepped back.

He had to give it to her, she hadn't rolled her eyes, she hadn't ridiculed him and she didn't immediately tell him that he was deluding himself either. In her place he doubted he'd been so matter-of-factly. Then again, she always had been better at dealing with crisis' or surprises than him. But her reaction at least confirmed him in his wild decision to come to her and he stepped inside, if somewhat warily.

"Veronica, she's _not_ dead," he emphasized quietly, not looking at her.

She was only silent for a moment, before she spoke, carefully. "What makes you think she's still alive?"

"Why does everyone assume that she's not?" he asked back, impatiently. "I mean, there's no body," he added and didn't like at all how desperately grasping for a last straw that had sounded.

**"**What about the woman who saw her jump? It's been on every channel," Veronica quietly asked.

"Well, if she's on the TV, she must be telling the truth," he replied, sarcastically. "But her credit cards were missing. I mean, doesn't that seem like..." He broke off, angry at himself for having his voice shaking. "I don't know, a clue? You don't jump off a bridge with your platinum card," he finished, once he trusted his voice again.

She looked unhappy. "Logan, I..."

"I know my mother!" he insisted, harshly, seeing that she was about to turn him down too after all. But she couldn't! She was his last hope, damn it!

"Okay," she said, soothingly.

Hell, he couldn't blame her for not instantly jumping onto the wagon with him here. Letting out a big sigh, Logan looked down at the lighter still in his hands. This was harder than he had expected it to be. How could he make her understand or at least indulge the possibility that his instinct on this was right?

"I heard she left a note?"

Her hesitant voice made him look back at her, unsure if this meant that she was going to listen after all. Not that he was about to let this chance to finally voice his thoughts pass in any case. "Well, yeah, she wants people to think she's dead," he explained, huddling his arms once again around himself. "But if she was going to really do the deed, it would be chardonnay and sleeping pills," he further pointed out with a sarcastic smile. "You know, she wouldn't risk being found bug-eyed and bloated in some shrimp net."

Veronica looked at him for a long moment before she gave a tiny nod. "I'll see what I can find out," she gave in.

Incredible relief flooded him, making his knees suddenly week. He had to get out of there. Before she changed her mind. Or before he did something humiliating, like crumble down in front of her and dissolve into tears. Right. He turned to go. But in the doorway, he paused again, needing to say one last bit. "You know... I just need to know she's okay."

She said nothing, but he could feel her eyes on him. And her sympathy. Not able to stand this for one second longer, he left, hurriedly going back to his X-Terra.

God...

God.

* * *

Turning off her laptop, Veronica stared for a long time at the blackened screen.

So much had happened in the last couple of hours. Speaking to Yolanda after all this time, hearing her forgiving Veronica for not standing up to Lilly when she should have, had felt kind of cleansing. She hadn't liked the memories she had had ever since Yolanda's father had come to her father because of her supposedly kidnapping, especially not the ones of herself. Today, she was ashamed of how Lilly had treated that girl and even more of her simply letting Lilly do it, not daring to say a word.

Even if Yolanda really had kissed Logan, and Veronica had her doubts about it, hell, Logan all but had admitted so much in his talk with Miss James, the way Lilly had punished her had been way out of proportion. Yolanda hadn't deserved it, any more than she had deserved the ban Logan had put on her after Lilly's death. And she wished she had been a better person than she apparently had been back then.

Somehow though, her memories of Lilly of that time had disturbed her the most. Since her death, Veronica sort of had put her on this pedestal, not letting anything mar her perfection. But Lilly hadn't always been this perfect little angel, hadn't she been? Hell - sometimes, she had been a pretty mean bitch. Never to her - but to everyone else she knew. Her parents, Duncan, Logan, other girls, for sure quite some guys. And Veronica had always stood with her, never even trying to stop her. Hell, she hadn't even doubted her. Never.

Of course, Lilly still had been fabulous. And she couldn't have been a better best friend - but still... Veronica was beginning to ask herself if that really had lasted, hadn't she been killed. Would she have stood by her if it had been one of the other 09er girls that had been killed and her dad had gone after that father? Or would she have, just like Logan, turned her back on her and banished her from her life like she had done with Yolanda after Veronica had told her about the kiss between her and Logan?

She wasn't sure but she had the uncomfortable hunch that it might have been just the same with Lilly as well. And to be honest, would she and Lilly have met today - she doubted that they had become best friends. More likely, they'd have been rivals as the least Veronica wanted nowadays was to be friends with the likes of Lilly as the queen of Neptune High.

Not that it really changed anything. Given the chance, she would probably do the same thing all over again. Tell Lilly about Logan and Yolanda kissing, risking her friendship with Logan and then choosing Lilly when it came down to Yolanda or Lilly.

Because she had loved Lilly, unconditionally. Still did. So yeah, Lilly hadn't been perfect and had, like everyone else, her faults - but she still had been Lilly, lightening up a room with a simple smile, never letting anyone talk her best friend down, always sticking to her, no matter what. Lilly had been her oldest and best friend and she had loved her like a sister and nothing was ever going to change that. Nothing.

Seeing Lilly's faults though also made it a bit more understandable to Veronica why someone had killed her, how hard that may be. But with realizing what a bitch Lilly had been able to be to so many people - that opened some new options. She still had all evidence pointing at the Kanes, but it was at least a possibility she'd have to consider.

Also, she kind of wondered about Logan and Lilly. While Logan had kissed Yolanda, she suspected Lilly hadn't been all that innocent about it either. From what she had gathered from his conversation with Ms James he had done it to piss Lilly off - and Veronica couldn't blame him all that much for that, today. Truth was, Lilly had been a bitch to him these days, also often complaining about him to Veronica. And she had the sneaking suspicion that Lilly had been seeing someone else that time, even before she had heard about Weevil and Lilly. Having watched their on and off again relationship from the beginning, Veronica had believed that they'd get it on again soon enough - but now she wasn't so sure anymore. Remembering that time now, Lilly truly had sounded fed up with Logan and Logan had seemed a lot bitterer about how Lilly had treated him, finally having enough also.

This thought saddened her. It seemed as if the tight foursome of them truly had been about to break up, with her and Duncan breaking up and perhaps even Lilly and Logan separating for good. Would they still be friends with each other, had Lilly not died? She doubted it. If Lilly and Logan really had ended it for good, then she fully believed that their separation wouldn't have been so friendly. They hardly would have continued to do everything together, being this tight circle that didn't allow anyone else in.

But then, perhaps she was wrong about this. Perhaps, everything would have turned out fine, one way or another. Fact was, they never were going to find out, because someone had brutally killed Lilly.

Maybe even Duncan. With a sigh, she stood up to move over to her bed. That reminded her that she still had to find out about this mysterious condition he took pills for. She wasn't sure how though. It was hardly as she could simply walk up to him and ask him who his doctor was so she could snoop around in Duncan's file.

Or couldn't she?

Hmm...

Falling into her bed, she turned to stare at her wall. Logan's visit tonight sure had been the big bomb though. Never in a million years had she expected him to come to her. For any reason, let alone to ask her for help. Because, no matter how much he had tried to let it sound like an official job for her as an amateur sleuth, it had been nothing else than a plea for help in the end.

One, she hadn't known how to answer to. She didn't believe that Lynn was still alive. She did believe though that Logan believed it, with all his heart. To be fair, he had some points. Weak points but they were worth checking out, if only for the sake of Logan's peace of mind. So she had put notices on Lynn's cards and had found out that the eyewitness who had seen her jump was actually being interviewed by Lamb in a couple of days. So she planned to hunt down Cliff McCormack tomorrow and remind him of a few favors he still owed her so he could arrange a meeting with this eyewitness to see how accurate she was, with her listening in onto it. From what she had been able to tell on the television, Logan may not be so wrong about her being a fraud.

Still, she doubted all this would lead them to anything else than heart break when Logan had to realize that Lynn really had committed suicide, taking the coward's way out. She was pretty sure it was going to hit him hard and she wasn't particularly keen on being there when it was going to happen.

Groaning, she flipped over.

Then why had she agreed to help him in the first place? Why hadn't she just said no and sent him away? Why had she even let him enter her home as it was and not just shut the door into his face like he basically would have deserved it?

Because he had gone to the trouble to come to her at all. Because he had looked so hurt and lost that not even her hard shell had been able to refuse the cry for help she had seen in his desperate eyes. Because no matter what, he had been a friend once and when he could come to her after everything, which must have been hard for him, then she could at least give her best to give him the answer he was looking for.

Because he had lost his mother and she knew how it felt to be abandoned by your own mother. And no one deserved this. Not even Logan.

And perhaps even because after everything that had happened recently, she just didn't think of Logan as the enemy that much anymore. Not as a friend either, but something in-between, whatever that was. He had helped her once or twice in the past months. And he had given her the pot-money, without any questions. And he had listened to her, when she had told him to trust her and go straight home after she had heard the report about Lynn's car.

And because, for that little, tiny moment there she had believed that Logan had been the possible jumper and her heart had ached terribly for that little moment, showing her that she still cared about Logan a lot more than she was willing to admit.

Yeah.

So she was going to help him, doing everything she could, so Logan could deal with it, one way or another. For his sake she hoped he was right. If not...

And once again, she found her heart aching for him.

God, how could she ever bring herself to kill even this last hope of his and make him realize that his mother truly was dead, had abandoned him in the cruelest way possible?

* * *

What the hell was she doing? A day had gone by without him hearing a word from Veronica. Had she only promised him to help in order to get rid of him? If so, then he swore he was so going to finish her off. She had thought she had it bad after Lilly's death? Hell, she didn't even know bad yet!

Or was she doing things and of the opinion that she only had to report back to him when she had the answer? Well, if that was the case then he would have to set her straight. She may be the one doing all the investigation, but only with him right beside her. And he was going to make this clear to her right now, he thought darkly, spotting her walking away from that flagpole guy, deeply engrossed in some file, and strolled over to her. What was she doing reading whatever this was when she had to search for his mother? "It's a good read," he therefore also stated reproachfully.

Startled, she looked up, closing the file quite quickly as he noticed. For a moment he was curious, but then he let it go. Nothing else was important than to find his mother and it looked as if he had to remind her of that. "Any news?"

"I put notices on your mom's credit cards and on her ATM card," she answered though, calmly.

He frowned. "Meaning what?"

She looked to the side, but elaborated, in the same businesslike manner as before. "Meaning a friend of my father's who works at your family bank will text message me if any of the cards are used. And you know that eyewitness that's been clogging up the airwaves?"

Logan scowled. "Yeah. Opportunistic hag." He just couldn't help it, but that woman disgusted him so much.

"That's the one," Ronnie agreed, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Well, she's giving a statement at the sheriff's department tomorrow. I'll drop by, see if she's up for a chat."

He hated to admit it, but he was kind of impressed. Looked like she had done a lot more than he had thought. And really seemed to think that she could simply leave him out of this investigation other than to report to him at her convenience. Time to set her straight. "Well, I'll go with you."

She had the nerve to laugh. "Actually, despite popular opinion, you really can't beat the truth out of someone," she dismissed his words and walked away from him, apparently indulging herself with the belief that he would simply let her go like that.

Ha!

Quickly, he followed her. "Listen, I'm going."

"You're not," she contradicted, not even bothering to look back.

"'Kay, what are you going to stop me with?" he retorted sarcastically.

"Force of will, strength of character, tenacity," she performed some mock karate moves with her arms, "karate chop..."

Logan wasn't impressed though. Quite the contrary actually. Fed up with her usuall exasperating self, he quickened his steps and once he had reached her, he stopped her by touching her arm, causing her to face him. "I will know if she's lying, okay? You won't," he told her hotly, shoving a finger into her face.

He had expected her to further protest, but instead, she just rolled her eyes, resigned. "Fine. I've got a plan," she then warned him though.

"Yeah, I'm sure you do," he snorted, turning slightly away. But he waited, giving her the opportunity to illustrate her great plan, but she just turned to walk away from him once again, just letting him standing there.

"Hey, Carrie, wait up!"

The hell! She was not just dismissing him like this! He was paying her after all. Well, they hadn't talked about a price yet, but she had no right to treat him like this!

Stalking after her, he loomed close by her, listening how she threatened Carrie to take back her accusations of Mr Rook. He had heard about Carrie accusing the history teacher with sleeping with her, in class no less, not really caring much about it though. He sure didn't like to hear though that apparently, Veronica was working on clearing the teacher as well. Not that much surprising, Rooks always having been one of her favorite teachers, but finding his mother for sure was more important, he thought angrily, boring a hole into her back. And she should know that. As it was, the minute Carrie drove away, he stalked over to her, grabbed her arm and dragged her into the shadow of the wall, pressing her up against it.

"Hey!"

"Listen, Veronica, we weren't finished yet," he hissed in a harsh whisper. "Never leave me standing like that again."

She glared up at him. "Or what?"

Cursing, he pushed away to put some distance between them, glaring back. "Damn it, Veronica, why do you always have to be so fucking complicated?"

"I don't know. Why do you always have to be such a jackass?" she fired back, her eyes shooting daggers.

Locked into a stare off, Logan held his ground. Unfortunately, it didn't look as if any of them was about to give in.

Fuck.

"Is it that much to ask for that you concentrate your efforts on finding my mom?" he finally relented bitterly.

Her eyes softening, she sighed. "I'm doing what I can, Logan."

"Then what was this about Mr Rooks?" he accused, resuming his glare. "Didn't sound to me like you're concentrating on what needs to be concentrated on."

Heat flashed up in her eyes again, but she remained calm otherwise. "Me helping Mr Rooks clear his name does not mean that I'm neglecting the search for your mother. I'm not." She paused, holding his eyes. "I _do_ know how important this is for you, Logan. But you have to realize that this search for Lynn probably won't take only a few days. It's not that easy to find someone who doesn't want to be found. It's even harder if that person is good enough to vanish with a face known as much and famous as that of your mom, especially now with articles on her and pictures of her plastered all over the news and journals, pretty much everywhere in the world. It could take weeks, even months, depending on how good she covered her traces in the end."

Logan clenched his jaw, said nothing though. He guessed she had a point there. Not to mention the big if she had left unsaid, the one assuming she was actually still alive in the first place. Still...

Still with her eyes intent on him, Veronica reached out, touching his hand tentatively. "Logan..."

Her touch bolted through his entire body, affecting him way more than he liked and he jerked away, shaking his head. "Don't," he warned, in a low voice.

She remained where she was, doing and saying nothing.

Fuck. He had known this was a marginally bad idea. "Just remember that just because I came to you for help doesn't mean we're all chummy again," he hissed, glaring again.

She rolled her eyes. "Shoot. And here I was already thinking about braiding us friendship bracelets again," she retorted back sarcastically. "Listen, I'm not going to stop helping Mr Rooks, if you like it or not. I'm promising you though that of course, Lynn comes first and I know that perfectly well." Her eyes slid off him, going into the distance. "Mr Rooks is one of the few decent teachers here and he's good. He just doesn't deserve to get fired because Carrie Bishop was bored and decided to shack up things a bit. It's a hoax and I'm going to prove that bitch wrong."

Hearing the bitterness in her voice loud and clear, he narrowed his eyes, regarding her for a moment. Then he laughed, sardonically. "Whatever makes you feel better, Veronica. Just don't let your personal revenge get in the way of the search for my mom."

Her head snapped back around to him, but he was already walking away from her. She could tell herself whatever she wanted, but he remembered perfectly well that Carrie Bishop never had been a fan of Veronica Mars and had on more than one occasion insulted her with glee, whenever Lilly, Duncan or him hadn't been around. Not that Ronnie had ever complained about her to them. But they had heard of it anyway, Lilly taking care of it afterwards. Still - it hadn't shut Carrie up much and certainly not anymore after he had word let out that Ronnie was free game now. From what he had heard, Carrie Bishop had been one of his best minions in his war against Veronica. And he knew Veronica, had felt her wrath. She may think she was just doing this for Mr Rooks, but he knew better. This was way more about revenge than anything else.

Not that he really cared. Just as long as it didn't get in the way of their search for his mother, she could do whatever he wanted, and he'd see to it that she stayed focused.

* * *

It was night again and Veronica was still fuming, mad with pretty much everyone and the world in general, but particularly with her dad and Logan.

That her dad hadn't even wanted to listen to her, disregarding her vote of confidence for Mr Rooks like that had hurt. How he could even think of joining that which hunt in the first place was beyond her and now that he knew just what a lying bitch Carrie Bishop was and he still insisted on helping the devil's spawn's parents... Argh, it just made her so mad!

And then there was Logan fucking Echolls! Who did he think he was, telling her what to do? He had come to her for help, damn it, and now he acted like he was the one leading this investigation! And then to have the nerve on top of it all to insinuate that she was helping Mr Rooks just because she still had a score to settle with Carrie Bishop! As if! So yeah, perhaps she sincerely hated Carrie Bishop, always had, but especially after everything that bitch had said or done to her after Lilly's death and hell, yeah, it would feel good to prove her the lying ass she was, but that had nothing to do with her wanting to save Mr Rooks' reputation and job. He _was_ one of the best teachers she ever had had, one of the few who had never supported the pupils in their ban of her and for that alone he deserved her help.

Besides, it was just wrong to accuse someone falsely of rape. Okay, perhaps it hadn't been a real accusation of rape, but Carrie was a minor and Rooks sleeping with her legally could count as statutory rape. It was because of girls like that bitch that real victims got ridiculed and told to go see the wizard for a backbone!

Balling her fists, she leaned her head against the cold panels of the shower, letting the water hammer down on her.

Damn it.

So okay, perhaps Logan had been right and part of her did take this on because of the prospect to bring Carrie Bishop down. But hell, after everything she deserved a little bit of revenge. And no matter what, she was doing this mostly to stop Mr Rooks from getting fired. She didn't want to lose him as a teacher, enjoying his classes too much for that. Not to mention that he was a decent guy who just didn't deserve what an accusation like this would mean for him, especially as a teacher.

So Logan was wrong after all. Just like he had been wrong by accusing her of not doing enough to find his mother! As if! He could be lucky she had already done as much as she had, especially as everything she had done was most likely for nothing anyway. A body wasn't likely to use credit cards or to turn up in a spa for a face lifting.

She closed her eyes.

Somehow though she couldn't muster up much anger for him because of that. It was his mother. In his place she would want to know for sure as well. Hell, she did want to know for sure as it was, even though she at least knew her mother wasn't dead. She just didn't know why she had run away. And why she did everything so Veronica couldn't find her or even just talk with her. No, she really couldn't blame Logan for being adamant on her concentrating on finding Lynn - or wanting to be in on the search.

Turning off the water before it got cold, she dried herself, put on her pajamas and went into her room, falling down onto her bed.

Truth be told, she had already halfway expected Logan wanting to be part of the investigation. He never had liked to merely stand by and now, with this important matter... No, she wasn't surprised that he had butted his way into coming with her to confront the opportunistic hag.

Despite herself, she felt a smile forming on her face, one she put an immediate stop on it. But man, if Logan's snarky remarks weren't directed at her she sure enjoyed them. Which she definitely shouldn't. But hell, it _was_ funny.

Her cell phone started to vibrate on her nightstand and she grabbed it to see who was calling.

Of course. Speaking of the devil... Debating for another thirty seconds if she shouldn't just let it go to voicemail, she sighed and took the call after all. "This starts to get a habit. Calling late, showing up on my doorstep, dragging me off to a secluded spot... you sure I shouldn't start on those friendship bracelets?"

"Very funny as always," Logan just replied dryly. "If you'd just given me the information I needed I wouldn't have to always call late."

Veronica raised an eyebrow. "And what information would that be?" Though she had a hunch what he wanted.

"Sorry, I'm not in the mood to play games right now, Mars. Just tell me when and where I need to pick you up to go meet that trailer park hag," Logan sure replied tensely.

"Just meet me at the sheriff's department at 13:30. She's supposed to be in by then," Veronica answered, frowning slightly.

"Uh-uh, no. We go together, Ronnie. I'm not letting you trick me out of this," Logan though protested. "Meet me at my car at one o'clock."

"I wasn't going to trick you!" Veronica seethed, her jaw working. "And I'm sure you're not feeling much more like riding together than me. So don't be difficult now and just trust me."

"Yeah right, I'm dumb like that. One o'clock, Veronica. Be there. Or I'll come drag you with me." Thus said he hang up.

Incredulously, she stared at the phone for a moment, debating even to call him back to give him a piece of her mind. Knowing that he most likely wasn't going to pick up anyway, she forgot about that and instead concentrating on cursing that obnoxious jackass to hell and back.

As if she'd ever let him commandeer her around!

Ha!

* * *

Leaning against his car with crossed arms, Logan waited impatiently for Veronica to show up. And he knew she'd come. He had seen to that.

Still, another five minutes passed and he slowly got nervous that she somehow had slipped by him anyway, when he felt the hairs on his neck stand up. Smirking, he looked around, and sure enough, there she came stomping towards him, the fume coming out of her ears and nose practically visible. He chuckled. She sure was a sight when pissed off.

"You stole my car keys?! I don't fucking believe it! Who the hell do you think you are, Echolls?" she hissed, poking a stinging finger into his chest. "Now give me back my keys before I get out my tazer! And don't think I won't!"

"Just try it, Mars," he challenged her, not really worried. Oh, he was sure she would go through with her threat. But he _was_ considerably bigger and stronger than her. "I'll give you the keys once we're back and only then. Now come on, I thought we had a schedule to meet," he then informed her and, without waiting for her reaction, turned and got into the X-Terra.

He guessed she had counted 'til fifty before yanking open the door and sliding into the seat beside him. Without a word he started the car as soon as she had slammed the door shut again and shot out of the parking lot.

The silence between them stretched.

Veronica had been right that he wasn't keen on riding with her. It was the last thing he wanted. But he knew she may try to ditch him after all and he wasn't going to let this happen, so he had insisted on this. Reminding him several times that this was all for the greater good of finding his mother.

"You know, this isn't going to work if you don't start trusting me," Veronica finally broke the silence.

"And as long as I can't trust you to not keep me in the dark on this, I'm not going to trust you not to ditch me," Logan gave back. "I mean it, Veronica. I don't care how you usually work, but with this, you'll just have to deal with me sticking around for everything you plan to do."

She was silent for a while and Logan glanced at her. Looked like she was thinking.

"Okay, we play it by your rules. I'll keep you informed on what I learn and if I set out to do some investigation, you can tag along," she conceded. "But let's be clear on this: I'm calling the shots and for once in your life, you're going to listen when out in the field. Understood? If you've got a problem with that, you can as well let me out here because then we'll just forget about this."

He didn't like the deal, but he guessed it was fair enough. "All right. But you remember who hired you in the first place."

She snorted. "As if you're ever going to let me forget that."

He found himself smiling a little. She was right with that one.

"And just for your information: I've got something to do afterwards, so, seeing as you forced me to ride with you, you'll just have to play my chauffeur for that one." He could feel her scathing look on him. "And don't even think about complaining. That's your own damn fault."

"I've got better things to do than driving you around, Ronnie," Logan protested anyway.

"Too bad for you. Shouldn't have stolen my car keys after all," she just replied, unfazed.

Logan restrained himself from growling. This was going to be a long drive.

* * *

They hadn't talked much afterwards, but thankfully, seven minutes and thirty-five seconds later they finally arrived at the sheriff's department. Veronica had expected Logan to question a hole into her stomach or at least to certainly not simply follow her instructions. He had surprised her though, had followed her quietly as she was conning her way into the station, first claiming they were here on a school-project to interview Detective Shaks, then to be waiting for their attorney to arrive in order to bust out their drunk dad, momentarily occupying one of their cells. Only when she had told him to sit down did he ask a question, again not making one comment on how she had gotten them in.

"And what are we going to do now?"

"Wait," she simply answered, keeping an eye on the entry and the watch. Valerie Stanton was bound to be finished with her statement soon. She had already seen Cliff, waiting on his post for the eyewitness, having glanced at Logan with slight surprise when they had passed him. He too had heard all about what had happened after Lilly's death and therefore probably wondered why it was Logan Echolls out of all people she was helping.

She sure could understand that question. Heaven knew she asked herself the same thing time and time again. And when she hadn't been able to find her car keys, not even after searching for twenty minutes, turning her bag upside down, and had finally concluded what really had happened, she had been ready to just shoot all this to hell.

Glancing at him, waiting impatiently on his chair, his leg twitching in what had to be a new record, she sighed inwardly. But she just couldn't. Logan was a jackass, no doubt about that, but his mother had probably just committed suicide and she simply couldn't let him down. If she had been going to do that, she'd have had to do that right in the beginning, when he had appeared on her doorstep to ask for help.

So she was a lot more patient with him than she'd usually was. And boy, he sure wasn't making it easy for her to be the patient one. As it was, she had the suspicion that by the end of this 'case', she'd be ready to commit herself into the loony bin. Or commit him. Yeah, that was the much better idea.

"Want a chewing gum?"

Startled out of her dark thoughts, she saw him holding out a package of chewing gum to her. Slightly surprised by his offer, she took one. "Thanks."

Logan just shrugged and popped one himself, immediately beginning to chewing loudly. He leant forward to rest his elbows onto his knees, his eyes flying every few seconds to the watch. Jeez, she hoped they'd never have an observation to make or she'd definitely go up the walls within only a short time spending with this nervous bundle.

But he remained silent and to be frank, it was slowly freaking out Veronica. Logan just wasn't the type to go silent for long. Usually, you couldn't shut him up, no matter how hard you tried.

Then again, nothing of this was normal and she guessed it was only understandable that he wasn't much in the mood to talk. Right. Now she just had to get rid of that annoying urge of hers to somehow find a way to comfort him. It wasn't her place anymore, damn it. Not to mention that he sure as hell wouldn't appreciate it anyway.

Another five minutes passed and slowly but surely, Veronica was growing as nervous just by watching Logan's growing impatience.

"We should do this more often," she remarked finally, trying to ease the tension.

Not much to her surprise, she got ignored once again.

At last, the door to the office where Stanton had given her statement opened and the opportunistic hag appeared. "That's her," Veronica quietly told Logan, though he probably recognized her well enough from all the interviews she's given.

Logan tensed and took out the chewing gum to stick it under the chair (certainly much to the janitor's pleasure), ready to spring up and confront her. Recognizing this, Veronica quickly reached out to hold him back. "Down, boy. Relax," she soothed him just as she would sooth a growling and fletching Back-Up. "I've got it covered," she assured him, then spoke into the small micro hidden in her sleeve. "White trash walking," she informed Cliff. Only then did she give Logan the second earpiece so he'd be able to listen in. At his look, she offered a mischievous smile. "I know, gadgets and all."

Once again not saying anything (and this really started to worry Veronica), he just put the earpiece into his ear.

_"Oh, uh, Ms Stanton. Cliff McCormack from "Weekly World News." My boss is very interested in your story."_ They heard Cliff saying loud and clearly over the earpieces and Veronica observed them with narrowed eyes.

_"Well, are we talking an exclusive, or what 'cause I'm getting lots of offers,"_ was Stanton's cool answer and Veronica had to suppress a growl.

Looked like Logan had been right about her after all. Not that much surprising. She sure looked just like that trailer park he had put her in.

_"Oh, definitely an exclusive,"_ Cliff answered dutifully.

_"Well, what's the offer?"_ she just replied.

Obviously, this woman had no moral at all. Did she ever even think about what her statement must have done to Lynn's family? Hardly.

_"Well, it depends on what you've got. Did she look intoxicated, drugged up, bruised?"_ Cliff dug deeper.

She had to admit that he may be a lousy lawyer, but he sure was good at things like this.

_"If you'd like, sure,"_ Stanton only answered and Veronica felt slightly sick.

It was nothing to Logan's reaction. He exploded off the chair and stormed over to Cliff and the bitch. "So what?!" he shouted, clearly furious as hell. Not that she could blame him. "You couldn't get on 'Springer' this week, so you make lies up about my mom?"

Shit. This was definitely going to be ugly if she didn't stop this, Veronica thought as she raced after Logan, throwing herself between him and Stanton. Not that she cared one iota about that bitch. But she did about Logan and the last he needed now was been thrown into a cell for attacking this hag, no matter how much she'd have deserved it. "Logan..."

* * *

He had known that that bitch had been a hoax all along, but still... Hearing that woman talk about his mother like that...

He just saw red, barely registering Veronica standing in front of him, holding his arms. "You know, I am sure the trailer payments must be high," he continued bitterly, already to the fast retreating back of that... that... that woman. "And what with the high price of spam these days…" he shouted after her.

Damn it, she could at least have the nerve to stay and face the son of the woman she so broadcastingly claimed to have seen jump off a bridge. See if she dared to tell her lies once again, right into his face, he thought furiously, trying to go after her but Veronica's hold on him tightened.

"Okay, enough!" she told him, trying to get him to look into her eyes. When he finally glanced her way, he threw off her hands and walked away into the other direction than that bitch had stalked off.

Running his hands through his hair, he tried to calm himself down, pacing on the spot. Ronnie was right. She wasn't worth it. But god, he so badly wanted to punch something right now, he thought, leaning against the wall with a strangled groan.

Damn it, damn it, damn it.

"Hey."

Upon hearing Veronica's voice, he glanced at her, briefly, to see her staring at someone.

"Hi."

Turning his head slightly, he saw an officer with a dopey look on his face grace Ronnie with a cold stare. Well, he at least tried to, not really managing the indifference very well.

Briefly he wondered what the history was between them as he turned away from Veronica. Anything to get his mind off of that cold-hearted bitch before he went after her to make sure she never told a lie in her life again.

"I have to take care of something. I'll be like two seconds," Veronica said, apparently to him. She had once again stepped close to him, way into his personal space, but he tolerated it. Hell. To be honest, he even draw some comfort from it. Not liking that thought, he shifted uncomfortably, just not able to stay calm right now. "Stay calm. Finding out what that woman is about is good news," she continued, obviously still trying to calm him down - maybe even comfort him.

Taking a deep breath, he gave a tight nod and turned away. Okay. Okay. She was right. This was good. Now they had the proof that that woman had lied all along. He had known it. And boy, he was so going to sue her for this, if possible. It just had to be possible. She had to pay, somehow, for the lies she had told. For how much those lies hurt. Making him doubt after all that perhaps...

No. He shouldn't think about this now. His mom was alive. She _hadn't_ jumped.

Right.

Right.

God, he needed to get out of here. What the hell was taking Ronnie so long? Pacing back, he glanced back into the pen. There she was, with her back to him but the smile breaking out on Officer Dupey's face...

Wait - was she flirting with that loser?!

What the fuck was she doing?! Now was hardly the time to flirt, damn it, let alone with such an idiot!

Angrily, Logan finally gave in to the urge and punched the wall, hard. It stung, but hardly bad enough. Perhaps he should mouth off to his father when he got home. Tell him again that he thought that the only reason his mom had split was him, perhaps screaming this time. That should get his dad over the stupor he was in at the moment and make him punish Logan. Perhaps then the pain would be strong enough to finally stop that paralyzing feeling heaving down his heart.

Damn, damn, damn... Why hadn't his mom taken him along? He wouldn't have cared to leave. Just getting away from his father and that shit of a life he had would have been enough...

"Logan?"

Jerking around, he avoided Veronica's searching eyes. "You finished?" he asked, scathingly.

"Yeah," she answered quietly and he could still feel her eyes heavy on him.

Without a word, he brushed past her to finally get out of there. He knew Veronica couldn't anything for her sympathy - but damn, it just made it more difficult not to break down at last, something he hadn't allowed himself so far. Even with his mother not dead - she still had left him, hadn't she? And God, that hurt. But he didn't want to dwell on that now. Couldn't afford it. Especially not in front of Ronnie.

Finally reaching his car, he beeped it open and quickly climbed in, taking a deep breath before Veronica got in as well.

He continued to just sit there.

"You okay?"

Her soft question almost made him laugh. Almost. He straightened up, turning on the motor. "I'm fine."

"Sure you are," she sighed but said nothing else.

It was perhaps a few minutes into the drive back to school before he realized he had no idea where to head to. Ronnie had said something about having to go someplace else, hadn't she? "Where do you need to go?" he asked, shortly.

"Actually, just drop me off at school. I'll take my car and head over myself," she replied though.

Tightening his grip on the wheel, Logan clenched his jaw. God, he'd always prefer the bitch version of Veronica to this oh so sympathetic one! He couldn't stand it! "Stop being so damn considerate and kind! I don't need it nor do I want it!" he growled, shooting her a look. "We had a deal. You take me to see that hag and I'm driving you to that other place you need to be. Nothing changed this. So tell me already where I have to go so we get this over with!"

"You may perhaps not like it, but I can't help but care. You think I want to? Well, I don't. But I do and it's obvious that you want to be alone right now. So why don't do us both a favor and drop me off so you can go and..." she broke off.

Stopping at a headlight, he looked scornfully at her. "And do what? Come on, Ronnie, don't hesitate, just say it. It's not like you could ruin our friendship again. Already taken care of that, have you not?"

Her eyes flamed up. "Me? _I_'ve ruined our friendship? Wow, that's rich. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the way I remember it it was you who stopped talking to me. You, who called me names and blamed me for things I had no power whatsoever over. You, who turned the whole school against me, banning me from your life, your precious circle and robbing me of everyone but my dad!"

"Oh come on, what did you expect? That we'd just let you and your dumb family ruin the Kanes? Wasn't Lilly dying not hard enough on them, on us? But no, then your dad had to go after Jake for killing her! Jake! As if he could ever have killed Lilly!" Logan hissed back. "You just can't harass a grieving family like that and then be surprised when everyone else is shocked and repulsed by that. And you, you who claimed to be Lilly's best friend, who spent so many hours over at the Kanes, you should have known better and you should have stopped your dad, for Lilly, for the Kanes, for all of us! But you didn't, did you? You just let your precious dad fuck up everything."

"Oh for Heaven's sake, Logan, do you even listen to yourself? What on Earth gave you the idea that I hold so much power over everything, let alone my dad? You think I believed it when he went and accused Jake? You think I didn't tell him that that was impossible? You think I _didn't_ try to talk him out of it? Well, I did! But he just said that he understood my sentiments but that he had to do his job and couldn't ignore the evidence. That's all he did, Logan: his job, no matter how uncomfortable it had have been for you high and mighty. No matter that it ruined _our_ family, _our_ lives in the end. He just did what he thought was right and yeah, I stood with him because he's all I ever really had and because in the end, I trusted his judgment. And you know what? Sometimes I asked myself if I've done the right thing and in the end I always come to the conclusion that yeah, it's been the right thing. He deserved me standing with him, never asking for my support though and boy, that sure is more than can be said about you. It didn't seem to have been all that difficult to just forget four years of friendship after all, didn't it, Logan? Just like that," she snipped her finger, "I was out of your life. No friend anymore, no acquaintance, no person you've once barely known, no, nothing like that. Now, suddenly, I was the enemy that needed to be destroyed and hell, you sure made sure of that, didn't you? Not leaving me with one friend, one person still willing to talk to me, utterly alone with having to deal with losing Lilly, my mom falling more and more into the bottle and then splitting for good and me..." she broke off abruptly, turning away, her arms tightly hugging her.

Behind Logan, cars honked. Glancing forward, he cursed upon seeing the green light and drove on, seething. "You were alone? Fuck, Ronnie, you know nothing about being alone. Nothing about pain. You want to know if it's been easy to push you out of my life? Wanna know the truth? Yeah. Yeah, it's been easy. Because when you just turned your back on our friendship, on Lilly, I realized that apparently that girl I thought I've known and that was my friend never really existed. And I might have missed you, terribly even, but then I've missed someone who never existed and yeah, yeah, hating you after that had been the easiest thing I've ever done."

"Trust me, I know the feeling. After all, the boy I thought I've known and been my friend sure turned out to be someone I barely recognized anymore and he sure as hell wasn't a friend. Because a friend would never have asked me to choose between my dad and him. Because a friend would never have turned on me like you have for not doing what he wanted. Because a friend sure as help wouldn't have put me through the hell you put me through! Believe me, I know everything about being betrayed by a friend!" she hollered back. "Besides, don't you dare to blame me to not having been there for you when you needed me. Ever thought that if you hadn't made me choose or if you could have just accepted that I had no power over what my dad was doing then you wouldn't have lost me as a friend? No, Logan. You can make yourself believe whatever you want but truth is that it's been you who destroyed our friendship, you who just threw it away as if those four years had meant nothing! You, Logan, you alone."

"Damn it, you can't give me all the fault for that! I don't believe you!" Logan exclaimed incredulously. "You can't honestly have believed that I'd side with you and your crazy father! The Kanes are like a second family to me and hell, even as dysfunctional as they are it's still the Bradys compared to what I've got at home. After everything the Kanes have done for me you really expect me to betray them like you and your family have? Or to even let you just go destroy my friend's family? We're talking about my murdered girlfriend's family! My best friend's family! You really believe you'd be ever more worth than that? Ha! As if!"

When she didn't retort immediately, he glanced at her. She had her head turned away but the hands in her lap were fisted.

He concentrated back onto the road, still fuming. Really, the nerve of her...

"It always ends up like this, doesn't it? In the end I and our friendship just weren't worth anything," she broke the tense silence finally. "You know what? Just let me out here. I'll take the bus back to school."

"Fine by me," Logan snorted and true to her word drove by the curb at the next opportunity, not bothering to turn off the motor.

Veronica was out in a flash, without another word.

Which was probably better anyway. Heaven knew he was this close to strangling that annoying, exasperating girl.

Letting the tires screech, he pulled out again, driving away.

Fuck, fuck, fuck - fuck it!

What in hell had possessed him when he had enlisted her help for the search for his mother? He must have been crazy! Yeah, that was it. The pain over his mother's leave had just sent him into momentary insanity. But now he sure was over it.

No more.

He and Ronnie, that just didn't work anymore. Too much had happened for that.

She seemed to honestly believe that everything that had happened had been none of her own fault! Could anyone believe that? No, even better: it was all _his_ fault. Then again, why did that even surprise him anymore? Lately she seemed to like to blame all things on him first, just on principle. And she definitely hadn't been innocent in the end of their friendship either!

True, perhaps she had had a few points. Maybe, there had been things he had done wrong back then and perhaps he really had expected a bit much from her, but it surely hadn't just been him!

_Ever thought that if you hadn't made me choose or if you could have just accepted that I had no power over what my dad was doing then you wouldn't have lost me as a friend?_

Cursing, he punched the wheel and quickly pulled out again, coming to a stop at the curb. Leaning forward, he let out a gurgled scream.

Damn her.

He couldn't deal with this shit right now. It was hard enough as it was to deal with the search for his vanished mother. He had not the strength to confront their difficult past/relationship with Ronnie right now.

Problem was only that he still needed her to continue her search, didn't he? So he had to find somehow a way to work with her. Spend time with her.

_You may perhaps not like it, but I can't help but care._

To be brutally honest though, apart of the explosion just now it had worked better than he had anticipated, working with Ronnie on this. And even though he hated to admit it - truth was he mostly had enjoyed spending this time with her, being able to talk to her again. He _had_ missed the friend he had come to believe never really had existed, terribly. Being forced to spend time with her again had reminded him very much of that. Because even though she certainly was different and God, she could be so exasperating and annoying - but some of the most important things that he had loved in the old Veronica still seemed to be prominent even in this version of her. Her genuine care, even for those who perhaps didn't deserve it, her compassion, her resolution to bring something to an end, her humor, perhaps now even more appealing than before.

And she yet had to declare him crazy for believing that his mom was still alive. Instead, she had helped him without any questions, doing everything in her power to help him find her. Without ever bringing up money or the likelihood of all this being a ghost hunt who only could lead to despair.

At least that was what Duncan had to say to him when he had told him that he had enlisted Veronica's help in order to find his mother.

He knew best friends were supposed to also tell you when you were wrong, but there was a difference between being a real support or just plain causing pain. Yeah. His best friend, the one Logan had always been there for to support him, had refused to help him, hadn't wanted anything to do with this.

Whereas Veronica, the friend he had lost in favor of Duncan, was there for him now.

Fuck. Talk about confusing.

_In the end I and our friendship just weren't worth anything._

It hadn't gone by him how hurt she had sounded when saying this. The pain had been right there, in her voice, in her posture, in her eyes, for the whole world to see, for really the first time since she had cut her hair and had become this much tougher version. And it had struck him, deeper than he had believed it possible. Her not giving anything away anymore had made it so much easier to continue to hurt her - so easy to forget that she actually still had feelings that could be hurt. Or that seeing her hurt had once been something insupportable to him.

And he still shouldn't care.

Then again, she seemed to still care, didn't she? More than once had she already tried to comfort him, sometimes just by being there and damn it all to hell, it had actually comforted him - soothed at least some of the pain and confusion and desperation he was in at the moment. He hated this, hated that she still was able to do this to him, after all this time, after everything he had done to not have her affect him like this anymore - but, and that was what made all this so difficult: he found himself not really wanting to lose that small reminder of their past again.

It had felt good - to be cared for again, especially with now even his mom gone too.

Besides, he really did still need her help. He wouldn't have even known where to begin looking for his mom and today had proved him once and for all that Veronica really did know what she was doing. She carried around listening devices and had contacts apparently pretty much everywhere useful and important for Heaven's sake.

Right.

Groaning with frustration, Logan started the car and pulled out - to head back. Perhaps he could still catch her after all. It wasn't as if he had driven far in the meantime. And sure enough, it didn't take long and he saw her stomping down the street, in the direction of the school. Thankful for the scarce traffic, he quickly turned and drove up beside her, rolling down the window on the passenger's side.

"Veronica."

Not too surprisingly, he got ignored. Sighing, he stopped the car and jumped out. "Veronica, please, wait," he pleaded, placing himself in front of her.

This time he at least got a glare for a response. And she stopped.

"Look - can't we just agree that what happened..." he thought for a moment, searching for the best words for this, "was maybe both our faults?"

She crossed her arms.

Shit. Looked like he really had to grovel this time. "And that we're both sorry for some of the things that went down between us?" he offered, keeping it vaguely. He hadn't been that much at fault after all.

She remained silent, but she sighed.

He looked away for a moment. When he looked back, he shrugged. "And perhaps, for this to work, we should put the past aside, at least for the time being?"

Ronnie snorted. "So we can go back to hate each other when you've gotten from me what you wanted? Gee, Logan, I don't know what to say."

Gritting his teeth, Logan reminded himself again that he still needed her. And that sometimes she wasn't quite this irritating. "I thought more like for now, we see how it works." He balled his hands, swallowing. "And that maybe afterwards, we'll see where it goes from there - if we want to." When she took her time answering, he shook his head and turned away. "Fine. Whatever. Why do I bother at all? Just don't come later and claim it's been my fault again. I at least tried this time. And that when I don't really have the nerve to deal with shit like this, definitely having enough on my plate as it is."

Her sigh was deep. "Jeez, Logan, give a girl some time to think of something to say. It's not everyday your archenemy offers you a truce."

Stopping, he turned back around to her, giving her a cold glare. "So what will it be?"

Stepping up to him, she looked as unhappy as he felt. "I say we'll try it that way. And see where it leads us," she finished softly.

Logan nodded. Who knew? Perhaps they survived this without killing each other. "And you're still looking for my mother, right?" he asked, wanting to know for sure.

Rolling her eyes, Ronnie opened the door to the passenger seat. "That never was a question, Logan," she replied softly though, closing the door.

For a moment he stood there, relieved and glowering at the same time.

Damn that girl. She just couldn't stay in one corner, couldn't she?

* * *

Talking with Mr Rooks had even strengthened her resolution to clear his name. It was obvious that Carrie was blaming him out of revenge for her bad grades and that parent talk he had had with her parents.

Now she just had to prove it. Which shouldn't be that hard. Carrie Bishop was not exactly the smartest girl. She was bound to have made a mistake somewhere and Veronica was going to find it.

The yellow canary Logan called a car came in sight and she sighed. Yeah. Proving Carrie Bishop a fraud was a piece cake compared to what she had gotten herself into by promising Logan Echolls helping find his mother. And finding Lynn was the least of the problem.

She still wasn't sure what to think about their - fight? Talk? Truce? - from earlier on. It hadn't come as a surprise. Ever since the two of them had started talking again, well, more or less, she had expected the topic of their break-up as friends coming up sooner or later. It hadn't even been that much a surprise to hear that Logan was blaming her. After everything that had happened but also after what she had overheard in his talk with Ms James she had figured that much. She had been surprised though when he had come back after driving off in a huff and offering that truce. Even apologizing in a way.

After she had gotten out of the car she had been ready to forget the past few weeks and swear to never make the mistake to let Logan Echolls in for even an inch. Obviously, the idea of her and him getting past their past had been too much to expect. She'd finish the damn job and then never wanted to speak with Logan again.

And that was probably for the best. Heaven knew Logan wasn't exactly the easiest friend or had the most charming character. Far from it.

But then he came back. Admitted that there had been mistakes. Gave a small apology. And had looked so disappointed when she hadn't immediately agreed on a semi fresh start.

Damn that boy for always having to be so confusing.

She should have just sent him to hell, not risking to let herself be vulnerable to him again. Because that was what all this spending time with Logan was doing to her. Him wounding his way through her shields, making her like and maybe even trust him again. Give him the power to hurt her again.

Hearing him admitting how very little their friendship had meant to him in the end had hurt a lot more than it should have, after all the time that had passed since their fall out.

So why was she giving the jackass another chance again already?

Because, if she wanted to be absolutely honest... She really liked spending time with him again. It felt good, to talk to him again, to listen to him, to simply be together with him again without both of them trying to hurt and humiliate the other as much as possible. Logan had been a close and good friend once, and yeah, even with everything he then had done to her and also with finding a new best friend in Wallace - she still missed Logan more often than she liked to admit.

And him offering this truce - just because she knew Logan that well, she knew how hard this must have been for him. At first she had suspected that he had only tried to get on her good side again because he didn't want to risk losing her help in his search for Lynn - but one look in his eyes had told her otherwise. Logan had always been good at bluffing and projecting whatever he wanted other people to believe of him. But when you really knew him, you knew where to look for the truth and Veronica happened to be one of those people and had easily seen the frustration with her but also the wish to try giving their.. whatever they were another shot.

So of course she had given in once again. But really, if they had a chance to perhaps get at least part of what they had had once back... She just couldn't pass on that chance, despite the risk.

Reaching the car, she got in. "Thanks for waiting."

Logan just shrugged, barely glancing at her. "Finished now?"

"Yeah. You can drive me back to school and finally give me my keys back," she remembered, glowering. She still couldn't believe that he had managed to steal her keys out of her bag without her noticing. When had he been able to do that at all? They hadn't talked that morning and barely seen each other as it was. And somehow she doubted that he had asked one of his lackeys to steal the keys for him.

There was the ghost of a smile on his face, but Logan only nodded towards the glove department. "They're in there."

Frowning, she quickly opened the department and sure enough, there were her keys. Retrieving them, she put them back into her bag. "You better never pull a stunt like that again or there will be payback."

"I'm shaking in my boots," Logan replied with a low chuckle.

She decided to not make another comment on that matter. Instead, she changed the topic. "Have you ever heard of rumors about Carrie liking older men? Doing any teachers?"

"Not really, then again I can't say I was ever much interested in whatever concerned Carrie Bishop," Logan answered straight out, glancing at her. "You know that."

Yeah, she remembered that Logan never had been a big fan of Carrie himself. "So you don't believe her either?"

He sighed. "I don't know, Veronica. It wouldn't surprise me if she made it up. On the other hand..."

"What?" she prompted him when he stopped.

"It's just - I did hear a few things about Rooks. He really seems to like some of his female students an awful much," he continued quietly.

"Namely?" she asked, immediately defensive.

He was silent for a while. "I don't remember," he finally said, shaking his head. "Just forget I said anything at all."

She frowned, pretty sure that he remembered very well.

"What are we doing about my mother now?" he then changed the topic too.

Veronica sighed inwardly. "We wait," she told him carefully.

Sure enough, he frowned.

"We don't have another lead at the moment. So there's nothing else that we can do now than wait and see if somewhere, something turns up," she explained, softly. "One of her credit cards, someone seeing her, one of my contacts calling back with something."

"And that's all?" he asked incredulous, sparing her an unhappy glance.

"Not much else to do," she nodded, only too well understanding his frustration. "You could wreck your memory though, trying to remember if Lynn ever mentioned a place she'd like to be in or maybe even a person she liked and trusted. She must have had help and I think you knew her best after all. Try to remember everything you can. Even the slightest detail could help us."

He thought about that for a while, then nodded. "I'll think about it."

Veronica was about to warn him to not get his hopes up, but then restrained herself from doing so. Logan wasn't stupid. He knew the chances of finding Lynn, alive, himself, probably better than anyone else, no matter what he convinced himself of. She couldn't find it in herself to remind him of that, to shatter those hopes - at least not yet. At one point, Logan would have to face the truth. For now, he seemed to need the hope though and why not? If it helped him dealing with Lynn's departure, fine with her.

But she still dreaded the moment when he lost that last hope.

"We're here."

Startled out of her thoughts, she looked up and sure enough, there was the school in front of her and her Le Baron right beside them.

"I'll let you know as soon as I hear anything," she said, reaching for the door handle.

Logan nodded. "And I'll come to you when I can think of something, someone."

"Good. Bye, Logan," she said after a slight hesitation, unsure of what to say to him all of a sudden.

He avoided her eyes. "Yeah."

Veronica got out, but when she turned to shut the door she found him looking back at her, straight into her eyes. "Bye, Veronica," he said quietly.

The door closed and he pulled away, fast.

For a moment, all she could do was stare after him.

Well, well, well.

* * *

He knew it was a stretch, he thought, looking across the street at the building with its stained glass windows and the small sign of Mars Investigation outside. He certainly wasn't particular eager to go inside. There was the chance that she'd just ridicule him. It was after all just a tabloid article.

But from all the crap he had seen that had been published about his mother's apparent suicide, this article had held a ring of truth to him.

So here he was, once again parking in front of a building that housed Veronica Mars, for the second time within a week. Going to ask her for help again.

He sighed.

This was crazy. A year ago he'd have rather died than go to Veronica. A month ago he'd have rather faced the worst his father could give him than go to Veronica. And now, as soon as he had read the article, his first thought had been that he had to go to Veronica and show it to her, convince her to follow it up.

The most worrisome thing? He liked it. That Veronica was in the picture again, coming first to his thoughts. That he could go to her again when he needed it.

Didn't mean though that it wasn't still awkward, especially with the fight they had the other day. He guessed it had been good to have a blow out about it, at last, but even with deciding to move forward, a lot of things had been said that still echoed through his mind whenever he let his mind drift away from his mother. And perhaps even a portion of guilt.

Not over everything of course - but he had to admit that he sometimes had really overstepped the line. Especially whit what had concerned her mother. The contrast between her actions now and his back then - it ashamed him. Here she was, doing everything she could to help him with his mother suddenly gone, even before he had come to her in order to hire her for the search while he... He had had nothing else to offer than biting comments and hurtful reminders of not only Lianne's alcoholism but also her simply abandoning them. And he knew now how wrong that had been. He'd kill anyone saying things about his mom like he had said to Veronica then.

The more all this unconditional help and support she offered him now touched him.

And there was a part in him that grew stronger and stronger everyday and its solely wish was to get Veronica back as a friend once and for all. There was this other part though, the reasonable one he thought, that warned him from doing just that, reminding him that no matter what, that girl had hurt him like only very few people had managed to do and boy, with his life, that was saying something. And it also warned him that Veronica may remind him a lot of the girl that had been his friend once at the moment but that she _had_ changed and that she _wasn't _that girl anymore.

Then again, he wasn't the same anymore either, wasn't he?

Shaking his head, Logan grabbed the tabloid and swiftly got out of his car. He needed to get this over with and didn't have time to dwell in thoughts that led no where anyway.

She was on the phone when he silently entered through the open door, hesitating once again. He wasn't so sure about this. It was only a tabloid after all. But it might be true and there was no one else than her to be able to find out for sure if that woman was accurate.

God, he hoped so.

"I was wondering if I could get in to see the doctor sometime this week," Veronica said, her back still towards him, having no idea that he was there. At her words, he did feel a slight concern though. Was she sick? She sure looked fine to him. "End of the day would be best. I have band practice after school," she said and one of his eyebrows shot up. She never in her life had ever played an instrument. Okay, she had a good voice but he had yet to hear about her joining a band. So he guessed this was another one of her scams. Heaven knew what for. "Five is great. Thanks," she finished and hung up the phone.

Time to let his presence be known. "I'm no doctor," he spoke up and she whirled around, eyeing him, startled. He came further in. "...but I'm, uh, pretty sure Penicillin will clear that problem right up."

Veronica looked down, relaxing. "Can't say I was expecting you," she said softly, smiling uncertainly.

Apparently she found this as awkward as him. Well, that was at least a small relief. He pointed at the windows. "Yeah, yeah, I usually avoid buildings with stained glass."

What on Earth was he talking about?

Veronica rounded the desk. "That's why you haven't come to visit," she said, bringing out her best pep-squat girly voice, and sat down.

Her sarcasm broke the dam for him though and he came forward, slapping the tabloid down in front of her. "There's a woman who saw my mom get out of her car and get in a van with a," he made air quotes with his hands, "mysterious stranger," he told her, not able to help the excitement and hope in his voice. But if this was true... it would be the proof that his mother was still alive!

She picked up the tabloid, scanning over the article. "There's also a jungle tribe that worships Donald Trump's hair," she remarked dryly and then looked up to meet his eyes. "It's a tabloid," she pointed out, softly.

Having more or less expected that reaction, he smiled. "What, so the girl with the pig arm can't really bowl?"

She didn't look amused though - rather pretty unhappy. "I just don't want you to get your hopes up," she said, apparently genuinely worried, laying down the tabloid.

But that was the least he needed right now. He hadn't come here for her to feel sorry for him - he had come here for her to do a job! "I'm not paying you to worry about my hopes," he told her tensely, the part in him that was adamant to not let her in as a friend again roaring its head. "I'm paying you to follow leads."

She picked up the tabloid again. "I wasn't aware you were paying me," she mentioned dryly, apparently not too affected by his words.

Once again, the reluctant side of him took over, suddenly needing to de-personalize this. "This isn't a favor, it's a job, you know. I mean, we're not," he held up his hands, searching for something that explained what they were nowadays. "...exchanging friendship bracelets," he finished finally, not bringing himself to not declare them friends right out.

"I'll stop braiding," she simply replied, rolling her eyes, scanning the article again.

"The woman said my mom was laughing and having fun," Logan summarized. "And so do whatever it is you do and track her down," he told her, well, ordered her. But he sure had enough of this conversation. He knew himself that it was only a tabloid article. That chances were low that the woman was accurate actually. But she might be, damn it, and he _had_ hired her to find just things like that out, hadn't he?

_"_Sondra Bolan of Sunset Springs. How am I going to find her?" she asked sarcastically and pretty sure of herself picked up the phone, dialing.

Nervous, Logan paced, stopping at a high commode to lean on it.

"In Sunset Springs. Sondra Bolan," she instructed, then, while waiting, looked back to Logan. "I'll put it on your bill," she whispered and he felt the corner of his mouth twich. Typical her, riding on that one now, that he had brought it up at last. Her attention went back to the phone. "Hi, Sondra, this is Veronica of 'The National Instigator'. I had a few follow-up questions on your Lynn Echolls story." She paused to listen. "Actually, in person is a lot better." She listened for a moment once again. "No, Tuesday night's no good, newspaper work night," she then said though and Logan jerked up.

What the hell... "What are you doing?" he demanded to know in a harsh whisper.

She looked back at him as if to say to hold his horses and spoke into the phone again. "Any chance you're available right now?" she asked and Logan relaxed, waiting anxiously for the woman's answer. Veronica's face lit up with a blinding smile she sent Logan and nodded. "Oh, that's great. Yes, in an hour would just be perfect. Do you know 'The Seaside'? It's a little coffee bar." She listened for a moment. "Yes, right beside Dog Beach. I'll see you there then. Thanks so much." Hanging up, she met Logan's eyes. "Looks like we're heading to Dog Beach."

He nodded. "Thank you," he said quietly.

Veronica shrugged and got up, grabbing her jacket. "As you said, that's what you're paying me for."

Logan looked away. Hardly couldn't blame her for riding that point now, after he had brought it up. And it hadn't gone past him that she yet had to name a price. Through asking around he had gathered that she usually asked something between two hundred and five hundred bucks. And she had asked ten percent of the money Luke had to give back to the drug dealer. Then again, this _job_ was different. He was asking her to find his mother that the whole world believed dead. He guessed that warranted something more than such peanuts.

"Let's go," she said, walking past him.

Glad to be brought out of his musings he went after her, frowning. "What's the hurry? You gave us an hour and we'll have twenty minutes tops to get to the coffee bar."

"Yeah, but first, I want to swing by home to get Back-Up when we're heading there already, saves me the trip later on. Second, we need to check the premises and get you placed somewhere close where you can listen in without being seen," she told him, closing the office up.

Logan's frown deepened. "Why go to so much trouble? I could just..."

"Sit by and participate? I think not," she interrupted him, giving him a look. "Think, Logan. Maybe this Sondra Bolan is the real deal, but she did only make it into a lousy tabloid, so we must assume that there's a reason for it. With all the press around your family lately your face's been plastered all over town. Especially after that nice encounter you had with that reporter and the fight with your dad right afterwards before the funeral. It's been played over and over in the last few days." This time she didn't look at him, her voice awfully neutral. But hell, he definitely wasn't going to feel bad about that episode. They had deserved it. Much more actually. "I'll get more out of her if she doesn't know that you're there too."

She had a point there, he thought, grudgingly. Damn it. "I'm surprised you didn't try to meet her without me again," he grumbled instead, beeping open his X-Terra.

With a snort, she got in. "Yeah, right, as if you'd have stayed away."

"Damn right."

"Besides, you had a point when you claimed to be better able to recognize if what this Sondra Bolan has to tell is accurate," she admitted, buckling in.

"About time you got that straight," he only could agree, heading towards the complex she lived in now. "Your dog better not drools onto my backseat."

"Aww, when did Back-Up ever dared to drool onto your backseat?" she asked, looking innocent like an angel.

Logan just snorted.

* * *

Seeing Logan turn around, or rather said this expression on his face that he had, accompanied with a smile, actually made her heart cringe.

She had expected anger. This - utter disbelieve and unbelief somehow though scared her. Not that she could blame him. This woman sitting across from her obviously was a fanatical and deranged person, caught in a delusion and obsession that had become her entire life. Veronica couldn't even be mad with her. It was clear that Sondra Bolan believed every word she had said. Which of course didn't help Logan much.

He got up and walked away, like in a trance, and she only could think of one thing: Go after him. Not really hearing anymore what that crazed fan was blubbering about she quickly got up, muttering an "Excuse me" at least and hurried after him.

Relieved, she saw that he hadn't gone far but had stopped right by the exit, leaning on the partition, hiding his emotions. Then again it wasn't hard to figure out what went on in him right now. He had hoped so much that the story of this Bolan woman was the real deal, only to have to find out that she's just one of those deluded fans...

She wanted to ease his pain so badly, but what was there to say after all? That she was sorry? That there was still hope? Hardly. "I would have done the same thing," she finally said.

He glanced back at her. "Done what?" he asked, roughly.

"If it was my mother, I would have let myself believe that story," she answered quietly, and it was the truth.

For a moment he held her eyes, then he pushed away and blundered up the exit stairs, blindly, as if he had to escape her eyes. Or perhaps just reality.

"Hey, manners Opie!" someone said and she needed a moment to recognize the guy Logan had bumped into on his rush out as Weevil as he stopped in front of her. "What, did he lose a puka shell?"

She knew that there was no love lost between Weevil and Logan. Apart of the obvious social differences, there was also that thing with Lilly. Since she had learned of her affair with Weevil she often had asked herself if Logan knew about it. Whatever it was, Logan would rip off her head if she told Weevil the truth. Then again, somehow she felt the need to explain his behavior. "No. Just the last ounce of hope that his mother was still alive," she sighed and once again felt her heart clench for Logan.

That shut Weevil up, looking properly contrite, and she was glad for that. Weevil wasn't a bad guy. He wouldn't go around and tell about seeing Logan like this. Hell, perhaps he'd go easy on Logan for a while, not that Logan seemed to be in need of that.

Uneasy about him being out there alone right now, she nodded at Weevil and went back to Sondra Bolan, gathering up her things. "I'm so sorry, something came up. But thank you for taking the time to speak with me. I think everything's clear no."

Bolan nodded, still lost in her book about Lynn. Shaking her head slightly, Veronica quickly left. Once outside, she scanned the area for Logan, her worry growing when she couldn't spot him. Walking back to his X-Terra, she definitely started to panic when he wasn't there either, just Back-Up, his nose sticking out of the slightly open window.

Looking around once again, she reached into her bag and took out the sticks she used to break open locked cars. Within a minute she had the door open and told Back-Up to get out. Then she closed the window, pushed down the button of the front door and shut it, hearing the automatic lock slide in place again.

Heaven forbid Logan's beloved canary got stolen now of all the times.

Looking around, her eyes paused on the beach, suddenly feeling drawn there. Then again, that would make sense. Logan loved the beach, he often went there to think or when he wanted to be alone. At least that had been so back when they still had been friends. Ruffling Back-Up's head, she started towards the promenade. "Come on, boy, let's find Logan."

Back-Up barked in agreement and shot forward, waiting occasionally so she could catch up. Trusting his nose, she let him led her to a more secluded part of the beach near the rock formation. When Veronica finally saw a hunched figure sitting on one of the rocks, she stopped. She knew it was Logan, even though she couldn't quite make out his features. For a moment, she just watched, unsure what to do now that she had found him. It was clear enough that he didn't want any company right now, not too surprisingly. She wouldn't be in the mood for company either in his place.

Yet, she couldn't just leave him there.

_What is so great about living?_

His desolate words to Ms James came back to her and she felt her heart be gripped by cold fear again. She had never believed Logan to be suicidal, but then, he had had a lot to take on this past year and now, with Lynn gone...

No.

No, Logan wouldn't do that. He just couldn't.

Still... there was no way that she'd just leave now. Not until she knew he was as okay as he could be under the circumstances. Didn't mean that she had to disturb him in his sorrow though, she thought with a sigh and sat down onto the sand, her eyes intent on the hunched figure. Patting Back-Up's head, she sent him off and wasn't surprised when he sprinted towards Logan, climbing the rocks with ease. She watched as her dog sniffed him, bumping his head against him after being ignored for too long for his taste.

And she smiled slightly when eventually, a hand lifted and started to crawl Back-Up's head. Soon after, Back-Up laid down, pressing his strong, warm body against Logan, Logan's hand still stroking and patting him, absentmindedly.

He would be fine, Veronica concluded with relief and leant back, intent on waiting for as long as Logan needed it.

* * *

He knew she was there - and not just because of having her dog still pressed up to him. Even before Back-Up had shown up he had - felt her being close.

The sun was losing its heat, slowly going down, and for a moment Logan wondered how long he was sitting here already. He really wasn't sure anymore, it feeling like an eternity - and like just a few seconds as well.

It was like he was caught in some sort of a trance, with everything being dull around him. And he felt so many different things, he wasn't sure what was what anymore. There was definitely a lot of anger, but mostly with himself for having fooled himself to belief the story of that Bolan woman. How could he have been so stupid? It had been a tabloid article, for Heaven's sake! But he had gone and believed it, word for word, even bringing Veronica to follow it up, making himself a laughing jock in front of her.

_If it was my mother, I would have let myself believe that story._

Okay, so perhaps she understood it, but still... For being - whatever she was to him at the moment, she sure saw a bit too much of his vulnerability. And somehow knowing that she was never going to judge him for that or exploit her private knowledge made everything a lot harder.

He hated pity.

Especially from her. It was the least he could need now. Having her pitying him of all people... It made everything worse. How could he hold on to his convincement that his mother was still alive, even after all this, with having even Veronica believing so obviously that he was fooling himself?

Why couldn't she take her dog and go away, leave him allow?

He didn't need her and her doubts.

Not that she had ever said that she didn't believe in his mother still being alive. She didn't need to. It was obvious in her behavior towards him, in her damn tentative consideration when dealing with him.

His mom was _not_ dead.

Even if this story turned out to be a fluke, that didn't mean that his mom wasn't still alive, hiding. She still was out there, he just knew it.

But there were still more and more doubts seeping in and he felt his belief wavering, despite everything.

"Mom wouldn't have left me all alone with him," he whispered, his hand tightening on Back-Up's head.

Back-Up grunted and laid his head into Logan's lap, looking up at him with his big brown eyes.

"She wouldn't."

The pit-bull stretched up and licked over Logan's chin once. "Hey," Logan protested, ducking away.

Back-up barked once, quietly.

With a sigh, Logan ruffled his head and patted his side. "Yeah, yeah."

At last he looked back, searching the beach for Back-Up's mistress. It took him a moment to make out her tiny form laid back in the sand, looking pretty relaxed. Looked like she was adamant to not leave without him. Sighing again, he looked back to her dog. "You sure got one stubborn mistress there. Must be a bitch to have to live with her."

Logan could swear the dog narrowed his eyes. He sure as hell fletched a little at him. Logan was quick to hold up his hand. "Okay, okay, no hard feelings, okay? It's just that she sure knows how to get under my skin," he muttered, shooting another glance at her silhouette on the beach.

But seriously - why was she still here? Why hadn't she just left? She hadn't come up to him, just waiting in the distance for him to come back so he guessed she had picked up on the fact that he wanted to be alone. But why still sticking around?

Okay, technically, he owed her a ride back home. Then again, she couldn't tell him that she couldn't find another way home. And yet, there she was, patiently waiting, having sent her dog to him.

Not that he minded that, he thought, looking down at Back-Up's head in his lap. Truth was, he loved that dog to pieces, always had, ever since Veronica had first introduced him to the puppy her dad had given her the previous day. And he had missed spending time with the dog. They had spent many hours here at the beach, walking and playing with Back-Up, just fooling around and that had been times he had always felt freer and more carefree than ever in his life.

And thanks to Back-Up he was sure that once he had managed to free himself from his father, he was going to get himself a dog as well. He always had wanted one, but his parents claimed that Trina was allergic to dogs (though strangely, she never had had a problem when Veronica was over with Back-Up). Then again, it probably was for the best anyway. Having had a dog would only have given his father another way to hurt Logan by going through the dog.

So he had been content to still his thirst for a dog by spending as much time as he could with Back-Up, spoiling him rotten, always having some goodies with him, sometimes even a steak. But with what had then happened between him and Veronica that had been lost as well, of course.

For this alone it was perhaps worth it to befriend Veronica again. As if reading his thoughts, Back-Up lifted his head and gave an agreeing bark that made Logan smile. Yeah. Maybe.

Of course, there was also the small fact that out of all his friends and buddies, it was only Veronica who had been willing to believe him enough to even bother to help him. And it was also only her who was there for him now, wasn't leaving him be, refusing to leave him alone with dealing with his mothers disappearance.

And his mom would be the first to tell him to not be so stubborn and finally see to it that he got back Veronica as a friend for good.

Then again, even if his mother hadn't committed suicide (and she hadn't!), she still had left him, hadn't she? Left him alone with his father. Sure. She hadn't had it easy with his father either. And she always had wanted to get away from him. But she had promised that _they_ were going to leave. That both of them were going to escape.

She had broken at least that promise.

And that hurt. A lot. And it made him also angry, though not angry enough to not want to find her just to know that she was okay. Yet.

Pressing a hand onto his eyes, he shook his head. Fuck it. He was definitely thinking way too much. That was what he got for sitting around and be sorry for himself, letting his thoughts free reign. Especially as there was no need to despair anyway.

His mom was fine. She just was a lot better at staying low than he had anticipated.

Then again, who knew for how long she'd been planning this already.

Growling at that thought, he once again shook his head forcefully, causing Back-Up to lift his head and give him a curious look. Pushing it all away, Logan patted his head and then stood up, patting himself down. "Come on. Let's go back to Veronica," he told the dog, who barked in return, jumping up and ahead.

As soon as Logan was down from the rocks, Back-Up raced to him, a stick in his hand. Finding himself laughing surprisingly lighthearted, he took the stick and threw it dutifully as far away as he could. Back-Up raced after it. For a moment, Logan watched him, then he started to slowly walking towards Veronica. He had to throw the stick four more times on the way over. When he finally reached her, she was still lying on her back, reading in a book. Glancing past the book, she raised an eyebrow. "Ready to head home?"

He was glad for her simplicity and normalcy. At least that. Deciding to go the same way, he nodded. "Yeah. It's getting dark anyway."

"And cold," she nodded and sat up, scanning the beach. "Care to tell me what you've done with my dog?"

With a grin, he nodded towards the water. "He should be back any moment now."

As if on cue, Back-Up showed up, running towards them with big strides, the stick held proudly in his mouth, laying it down at Logan's feet. And shook himself, spraying mostly Veronica with wet drops. Yelping, she jumped up and then glared at a laughing Logan. "Great. You just had to throw that stick into the water, didn't you?" she grumbled. "Now I've got to bath him once we're home or he'll stink after sea water."

He shrugged, innocently. "It was the wind."

She snorted. "Sure, there's so much wind at the moment. I'll be blown away any moment now."

"Aww, don't worry, we'll hold you down when that happens, won't we?" he asked, looking down at Back-Up who barked again in answer.

"Gaining up on me, huh?" she said, eyeing her dog. "You better don't expect a bone tonight."

Back-Up whined, then gave them both a pathetic look, resting a bit longer on Logan.

"Looking at Logan won't help you. He's not going to give you one either," Veronica just told him dryly and patted herself down as well before picking up her bag.

Giving it apparently up, Back-Up sprinted ahead, enjoying the beach for as long as he could while Logan and Veronica trailed after him, in silence. Strangely enough, Logan didn't even think it an uncomfortable silence. Actually, it was rather an easy silence.

None the less, there was still something that he needed to make clear, even though he really wasn't in the mood to bring up the difficult topic of his mother again. "I guess it's back to waiting now, isn't it?" he asked, careful to keep his eyes on Back-Up and his voice neutral.

He felt her glance at him. "Yeah, I fear so. Got any further with that list I asked from you?" she simply answered though.

Relieved, he gave a short nod. "I'll give it to you tomorrow."

"Okay. I won't be there all day though. I'm going to Mr Rooks' hearing in the afternoon," she informed him.

"Still trying to clear him, huh?" Logan asked, at last glancing at her.

"Yeah and I plan to not stop until I've proved the truth," she confirmed, getting that hard edge in her eyes he had noticed already several times before.

The old Ronnie had never looked that way. He wondered if that was a good or a bad thing. Becoming tougher wasn't necessarily a bad thing and there had been times when he had worried about Veronica, back in their days, that she was too soft, too trusting, too easy to be hurt.

On the other hand, considering their history, he better did not go down that lane.

"But that won't stop me from doing the usual check-ups for your mother, so don't worry," she added.

"I didn't," he answered quietly, again careful to not look at her.

She had no reply to that. Reaching the part where they had to leave the beach, she let out a sharp whistle that had Back-Up running towards them in seconds. Together, they made their way over to Logan's car.

"We better put Back-Up in the back, wet and sandy as he is now," Veronica said.

But Logan shook his head and opened the backdoor for the dog, motioning him in. "Nah, it's all right."

Her eyebrows rose. "What happened to your precious seats?"

"It's called car wash, Ronnie. It's due soon anyway," he answered with a shrug and got in himself.

"Just don't bill it to me. You've been dutifully warned," she replied dryly, buckling in.

"Ah no, way simpler than that," Logan grinned, shooting her a look. "I'll just deduct it from the check I'll owe you, once we've found my mother."

She shrugged. "Easy. In that case I'll simply give you a higher rate."

Their eyes met briefly and they both smiled.

"Did you hear who's going to replace Ms Dent in our journalism class?" Logan changed the topic.

"No, not yet. When's Ms Dent leaving for her maternity leave anyway?"

"I think by the end of this month. And then we will have the pleasure to have Ms Stafford take over for her," Logan informed her.

Her eyebrows rose. "Ms Stafford? Seriously?"

"The one and only," he nodded. "Maddison told me and Duncan confirmed it." He shot her a look. "But how come you super-sleuth didn't know that yet?"

Veronica shrugged. "I never cared to find out, not really wanting to think about it. I like Ms Dent, she's good. Plus, I've been caught up in other things." She shook her head. "Ms Stafford. What were they thinking? That will be a nightmare."

Logan laughed. "What, you're not looking forward to write endless praises and peppy things for our fellow students?"

"Ugh. Please don't remind me of her lectures from pep squad. I swear to you, I was this close of dousing her one afternoon." She rolled her eyes. "But you're right, I fear with her calling the shots the Navigator will become very boring, very fast."

Logan nodded. "Probably. Then again, who really reads the Navigator anyway?"

"Oh come on, it's not that bad. There are people who aren't only interested in surfing, parties, sex and alcohol, you know?" she defended their school paper.

"But no one who really counts."

"You're such a snob," was Veronica's only reply.

"I am what I am," he told her promptly, pulling into the parking lot in front of her apartment complex.

"Don't I know it," she snorted and got out, opening the back door for Back-Up a moment later. Then her face appeared in the still open front door again. "You okay?" she asked quietly, serious all of a sudden.

Stiffening, Logan looked away, gave a tight nod though.

She sighed. "Okay. I'll see you tomorrow then."

Again he just nodded and she closed the door, walking away. For a second, he stared after her. Then he cursed and opened the door, leaning out. "Hey, Ronnie!"

She turned around, her eyes locking with his.

"Thanks for..." He broke off, unsure what to say. "Thanks," he finally just said simply.

Her eyes softened and she gave the tiniest of a nod. "No big deal," she simply replied and with a last small smile his way turned back around and continued her way in, soon vanishing through the door of her apartment.

Only then did he start the car and drove away, her last words echoing in his head.

She was wrong. It was a big deal.

Big enough to make him slowly but surely actually _want_ to gain her friendship back.

Boy oh boy... looked like hell actually did freeze over.

* * *

How could she have been so wrong about Mr Rooks? How in the hell had he been able to still fool her like this, after everything she had learned this past year?

Carrie had been right all the time. Well, she _had_ lied about the one having an affair with Mr Rooks being her while it had been all along her best friend Susan Knight, but other than that everything she had said had been the truth. And that Mr Rooks, who seemed to be so nice and great was capable of not only sleeping with his own students but to then even treat her like that when she became pregnant, just letting her fall like that. Giving her 500 bucks to take care of it... How could she ever have believed in that asshole?

And to make everything worse, there was this fear deep down, ever since she had left Mr Rooks' home after the hearing. If she hadn't left when she had had, putting two and two together - would it have happened again? If he'd made advances on her and she had made clear that that was never going to happen, would he have just let her go or would he have...

Alone the thought of it made her sick.

Truthfully, she didn't think so. Rooks may be an ass, but Susan had made clear that she had slept with him on her own free will. Then again, there was a reason something like this was called statutory rape. And that teachers shouldn't sleep with their students. How much chance had had Susan Knight to say no after all? Rooks was a charmer, that much was obvious and he did look good, so it wouldn't be hard for him to make a naive girl like Susan Knight had been one fall in love with him. Hell, she still loved the asshole, even after everything that had happened, Veronica having a hard time to convince her to report the truth to the school board president.

But she had succeeded in the end and Mr Rooks most likely was going to get fired sometimes in the next few days.

It made her even sicker that she still regretted losing him as a teacher. But damn it, apart of being a total asshole he _had_ been a truly great teacher. There was no doubt though that he did deserve getting fired and hopefully get his reputation such damaged that he never was going to be able to find another job as a teacher again.

And she could just hope that his replacement would be a better choice than Ms Stafford for Ms Dent, she thought darkly as she walked towards the school, depressed. It was no wonder though that she couldn't find particular joy at living at the moment. Her favorite teacher turned out to be a lying, cheating bastard over whom she even had gotten into a big fight with her dad, therefore forcing her to apologize to him and even worse, she owed Carrie Bishop an apology as well and boy, that one was going to hurt.

On top of that she had found out that her ex-boyfriend and possible half brother suffered from epilepsy and had never bothered to tell her about this. Nor Lilly for that matter. Then again, it looked as if Lilly hadn't told her quite a lot, like having dated Weevil for example. At least her visit of Dr Levine's office had also given her another connection between the Kanes and Abel Koontz. It couldn't be a coincidence that he had gone to the same doctor as the Kanes, especially seeing that Dr Levine basically wasn't in his price category. Nor was it surely no coincidence that Abel Koontz had been arrested only three days after having been diagnosed by that same doctor with a terminable cancer.

Finally, Koontz wrong confession made sense. He had nothing to lose, dying as he already was. Either the state was going to kill him or the cancer. Probably, he hoped it was the first, giving him a way easier death than the painful one by cancer. But she still didn't know why he agreed to do the confession in the first place. They've got to have paid him, but if he was dying in prison, what use would he have for any kind of money?

Unless of course there was someone else he wanted the money for.

Well, perhaps she'd ask him when she returned to go see him one last time. To let him know that she knew. It was probably a stupid idea, but God, she wanted him to pay for what he had told her at her last visit in the prison. And for covering for Lilly's real killer, making it possible that he was still out there, living a careless life, knowing that no one was searching for him anymore with Koontz rotting away on death row for her murder.

No, she did not feel one ounce of pity for that despicable man. And she hoped with all her being that she managed to uncover the truth before the death sentence got executed.

She walked past Logan's X-Terra and sighed mentally. Then there was the whole mess with Logan of course. Even after the last disappointment with the tabloid story he still refused to believe in Lynn's suicide. The more she learned of the case though, the more Veronica got convinced that Lynn really was dead. Not that she had had much doubts about it before but now... She just didn't know what to do with Logan anymore. It would be so much easier if there wasn't all this history between them, especially not their old friendship. Without that it would be so easy for her to gently but definitely tell him that he was deluding himself and that his desperate search for Lynn was futile, only dragging out the inevitable. Him having to accept and deal with her suicide. But as it was - she just couldn't bring herself to tell him or even lay down the search. So she continued to check every day for traces of Lynn.

Well, perhaps Weevil's tip would make a change. Perhaps this kid he had heard of really had some valuable proof, one way or another, that would convince Logan to drop his search.

And maybe they then could go back to...

Yeah. That was another problem. Things had changed between them in the last week. For a while already, but big time ever since he had shown up on her doorstep to ask her for help. Especially during that afternoon on the beach. Being reminded at how close Back-Up and he were, having him joke around with her again, seeing his trust in her... it sure did a number on her feelings for him. So when this was over, what did she really want? Go back to be enemies? Go back to be something in-between, just tolerating each other? Or, Heaven forbid, go back to friends?

The mere thought of it was ridiculous. There simply had happened too much between them for that being possible. Or was it? Could they move past the past and make somewhat of a new beginning, giving a friendship between him and her another try?

She wasn't sure - but it scared her slightly that she had to find out that she definitely tended to the last one. If it was possible, yeah, she thought then she'd like to see if perhaps they could be friends again.

Looked like hell was freezing over after all.

* * *

_I may have something. Meet me in the rec room. V._

Logan read the message three times before he looked around with a frown, trying to spot Veronica, having no luck though. Perhaps, she was already in the rec room.

"Something wrong?"

Looking at Duncan, Logan quickly left the message and put away his cell. "No. Just remembered that I forgot something. I'll see you guys later," he answered, standing up.

Most of the guys at the table just gave a nod in return if at all, but Duncan frowned. "Where are you going?"

"I've got something to do," Logan avoided his question and left before Duncan could ask any more questions.

This was the first time that Veronica had called him with something new and he was curious as hell to see what she had found out. He tried to not get his hopes up too much again, but it was hard. After all, what could Veronica have found that would not give them at least a clue about his mother's whereabouts?

He quickened his pace in his eagerness, hardly noticing anything on his way over to the rec room. Finally he got there, seeing the door open. His steps faltered though when he saw that Veronica wasn't alone. He had no idea who the kid was but what the hell was Weevil doing there?

"Hey. You paged?" he asked carefully, glancing at Weevil and the kid as he moved over to stand behind Veronica who was sitting in front of a computer.

Veronica gave a small nod and turned her piercing eyes onto the kid. "It seems Hart here has something to show us," she explained. "Spill."

Logan looked skeptically at the boy, unsure of what this kid he was sure he never had seen in his life before could know about his mother's disappearance. The kid, Hart, looked very uncomfortable, but he was smart enough to do as Veronica had ordered him and started talking. "Me and my friends were filming out by the bay. We were making this war movie, "Storm on the Beach." It's just on high def, but it's pretty cool. It's these two brothers who get sent to war and-"

He got rudely interrupted by Veronica. "Don't care. Point?"

Glancing uneasily at the others, Hart inserted a disc, starting it up. "We were editing it together, and we noticed something."

Putting up a feet on the chair beside Veronica, Logan looked with growing impatience how kids Hart's age were playing soldier, dressed in combat gear. The steamer was filmed someplace with the Coronado Bridge in the background, but that was all he could see that could link this to his mother.

"Did you see it?" Hart asked after the sequence was over.

"Yeah, it sucks, and?" Logan sneered.

Veronica seemed more patient with the idiot though. "Rewind it. Play it frame by frame," she told Hart.

The boy was quick to do so. "There! Check out the right side of the bridge," he pointed out and zoomed in on it.

Something white is falling down from the bridge, splashing into the water.

Logan's heart stops and he actually stumbles back.

_No..._

* * *

Weevil too drew back in shock. "Holy..."

Veronica closed her eyes. Damn it. Sure, she had thought as much, but to actually have to see it. This was someone she had always liked after all, someone who always had been nice to her. God, how must Logan feel now, having had to see this? Shit. Why hadn't she first viewed the disc herself instead of just calling Logan to join them? Neither Hart nor Weevil should be here now. Not for something like this, something so private.

"The video's time stamped 4:37 P.M. Exactly the time when..." Hart interrupted his explanation, glancing warily at Logan, apparently finally remembering just who Logan was. "...she supposedly jumped," he finished, subdued.

"This footage better never make it out into public consumption," warned Veronica him icily, her voice row though.

Weevil grabbed Hart's neck. "Don't worry about my boy, Hart," he said, getting into Hart's face. "He knows if that happens his last movie will be a snuff film. And he'll star in it, right?" It was obvious from the fear in his eyes that Hart believed him every word. Smart boy. Satisfied, Weevil dragged him away. "Come on."

Veronica watched as they left, not missing the sympathetic glance Weevil shot Logan, and then she was left alone with Logan. Slipping out the disc, she could hear him moving behind her but most of all, she could feel the shock and pain emanating from him.

God. What on Earth could she say to him now? He had just witnessed his mother descent from the bridge that most surely had killed her. There was nothing that could make this any easier for him.

Still, she felt the need to say at least something and so she just let her heart speak. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, so am I," he replied softly, his voice...

No. She never had heard him like this, so completely and utterly resigned and defeated. Her heart clenching painfully for him, she dropped her head, wishing there was something, anything she could do to ease his pain.

But of course there was nothing she could do and when he slowly walked out of the room, stumbling, as if every step was too big of an effort, she let him go, instinctively knowing that now was not the time to go after him, no matter how much her head warned her to not leave him alone right now.

Dimly, she heard her cell phone ring and after a moment, she tiredly reached for it, desperate for anything to distract her from her own shock and worry about Logan. Reading the message on her display though, she soon was back on Earth, having to read the message a second time with unbelief. To receive it now of all the times... And what did this mean?

Didn't matter, at least not right now. All that mattered was that Logan knew about this. God, Logan! Grabbing her bag, she jumped up and ran out, looking frantically around for Logan. He couldn't have gotten far after all, not after such news. And he'd need to be alone so where...

Of course! Sharply, she turned around and raced outside, towards the parking lot. She knew Logan. There was no way he'd stay in school right now, needing to get away from everybody.

And sure enough, there he was, stumbling in a daze towards his car. "Logan!" she shouted, not caring one iota about everybody seeing and hearing her. They didn't matter. No one but Logan mattered right now. Not much to her surprise it didn't stop Logan though, either not wanting to face her or, more likely, simply not hearing her in his despair. "Logan!" she tried it again anyway, quickening her steps. At last she reached him and she called out his name again. "Logan!" Finally he stopped, turning blind eyes towards her and his paleness in the stark sun shocked her, despite having been there when they had seen the disc as well. The words spilled out of her. "Your mom's missing credit card was just used."

It took a long while for her words to register, but as she watched his eyes cleared and focused, filling with regained hope. "What?" he whispered.

Suddenly, Veronica was uneasy about bringing up his hopes again, but she owed him the truth after all and this was it. "Your mom's credit card. It's just been used," she repeated, more calmly now.

Even with hope returning to him, he still looked lost. "But... what does that mean?"

Becoming aware of the other students throwing them curious looks, Veronica held back from answering immediately and, taking his hand, she dragged him over to his car. Should they think whatever they wanted. That was hardly important at the moment. Besides, with her reputation it was only Logan's reputation that could suffer a little anyway. Eager to get them into the relatively privacy of his car, Veronica didn't hesitate when she simply reached into Logan's left pocket to get out his keys and beep open the car. Opening the door to the front seat, she ushered Logan in before she rounded the car and climbed in herself into the driver's seat. It spoke for itself that not one word of protest came over Logan's lips this whole time, not even when she started his beloved canary and pulled out of the parking lot.

He never let anyone else drive his car.

Deeply worried, she racked her brain to figure out what to do now with him in this state. She wasn't sure where to head to, just having known to need to get away, so, in the end, she optioned to drive towards their office. They might need to use the computer there after all. Her dad should be out, they've gotten another job the last day, mostly surveillance, so she didn't need to worry about explaining all of this to him. After everything that had happened, her dad naturally wasn't the biggest fan of Logan Echolls, so she never had mentioned to him that her and Logan were working together in order to find Lynn - or that something had changed between them lately, ending their hostility. Maybe even making them friends again.

"Veronica?"

She locked her eyes with Logan for a moment. "We're heading over to the office so we can check up on that credit card. See where and for what it's been used," she explained, not standing how lost he still sounded.

"Okay."

Or this unusual compliance of him. This just wasn't him.

Thankfully, they've reached the office not soon after. Once again, Logan just followed her quietly up to it. It really started to unnerve her. But she couldn't blame the guy. He sure had been on a rollercoaster of hell this past hour.

Like she had thought, her dad wasn't in, thankfully. Going straight to her desk, she fired up the computer there.

At last, Logan started to talk again, in a rough, confused voice. "I don't understand, Veronica. We've both seen that video. I haven't imagined..." his voice broke and he swallowed. "But if what we've seen is real, then how is it possible that her card's been used now?"

Looking back at him, she willed her computer to hurry while she thought about how to answer him.

There was nothing but the truth.

"I don't know, Logan," she admitted quietly. "But I intend to find out. There are various possibility. We're not sure she had her credit cards with her when she left the car on the bridge. Maybe, someone stole them and waited a few days before daring to try them. That is the most likely reason," she warned him softly, then continued. "There is also the possibility that someone at the bank or in the credit firma grabbed the opportunity and quickly charged a few things onto her card. It's rare, but I've seen it happen."

He looked at her expectantly and she sighed. "And yeah, there is the slight possibility that Lynn arranged for a dummy or something similar to simulate her jump to then vanish from this Earth. But Logan, you really shouldn't..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," he interrupted her, pacing in front of her. "Don't get my hopes up."

"It is not the most likely scenario," she reminded him gently. "I know you want to believe it and I won't say it's completely out of the question - but if Lynn went to all that trouble to stage her suicide, managing to stay as low as she has, then I just don't see her being so dumb to risk it all by using her old credit cards all of a sudden."

He stopped to gaze at her, annoyed and desperate all at once. "Perhaps it was an emergency. Perhaps this was her way to send out a message to those who are looking for her." He had to swallow again. "For me. It is a possibility."

Not bringing herself to kill his small hope, Veronica's shoulders sagged in defeat and she nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, maybe." She turned back to her computer, the programs finally running. "Okay, let's see what I can find out." Motioning to the sofa, she glanced back at him. "Sit down, Logan. It will take a while," she told him softly.

For a moment it looked as if he was going to protest, but then he walked over to the sofa and sat down, leaning his head into his hands. "I don't suppose your dad keeps a bottle of scotch or whiskey someplace around here?" he asked sarcastically but then sighed. "I could really use a shot right now."

She already had a sharp comment on her tongue but then reminded herself just what he had to go through in the past hour. Hell. In the past couple of months. She guessed he really deserved a shot after all this. Sighing, she quickly set up the search for the credit card and then went to the kitchen to go get a glass with ice in it before she vanished into her father's office. Her father liked a good old scotch from time to time and she knew where he kept the bottle. Pouring Logan a good deal of a shot, she put the bottle back into its place and then went outside.

"Here," she said to make him look up and held out the glass when he did so.

For a moment he just stared at the glass before he turned flabbergasted eyes onto her. She shrugged. "Want it now or not?" she asked, a bit gruffly.

Logan tended to drink too much and with her mother's history she never had liked that, let alone feed that vice of his. But even she knew that sometimes a bit of alcohol could actually be sort of therapeutic or at least calming.

He took the glass. "Thanks."

With another shrug she returned to her desk.

"This is a good stuff."

"Just because we're poor doesn't mean Dad doesn't know how to appreciate a good scotch occasionally and therefore buys a good bottle once in a while," Veronica said, not looking up. "Just don't expect to get another one."

"That's fine. And I didn't mean it like it sounded." His frustration made her glance over to him. He looked into the glass, forlorn. "I just..."

"It's okay," she assured him before she knew what she was doing. "No offense taken."

At last he looked up, met her eyes. Then he nodded, silently. "Veronica?"

"Yeah?"

His eyes bored into hers. "Why are you doing all this? Why help me at all? Why didn't you just send me to hell?" He sounded defeated, as if finally asking her this happened only after a long inner war. "I know I would have done so, in your place."

For a long moment, she contemplated how to answer. Should she try to find an answer to a question she had already asked herself a few dozens times without finding a truly satisfying answer or should she just shrug it off with some snide remark? Taking another look at him, she knew that now was not the time for jokes.

So she shrugged. "Because you came to me." She thought for a moment. "Because if it's my mother, I'd do the same thing, not giving up until I'd know for sure, one way or another." Another pause. "Because your mom had always been nice to me and I like Lynn." This time she was silent for a long time before she added one last reason. "And because in the end, we once cared enough about each other that neither of us would have had questioned the motivation behind helping each other in a crisis like this."

Logan was silent but he wouldn't let go of her eyes.

It suddenly all becoming a bit too heavy and emotional for her taste, she gave him a big smile and shrugged. "Besides, who am I to turn down a 09er showing up on my doorstep to offer me a job that can finance me at least six months of college?"

She turned back to her computer and was careful to not look back at Logan, concentrating herself solely on her task.

Several minutes passed with neither of them saying anything.

"Ronnie..." Logan finally interrupted the silence though, even letting out a low chuckle. "To think that with all that PI stuff you've been doing over the past year that you're still such a lousy liar... How you manage to fool anyone is a mystery to me."

Her head shot up to give him her most patented death glare.

The jackass just laughed and leaned back in the sofa, taking another sip of the scotch she had given him, closing his eyes.

She knew he had a hell of a day, but still... "Go to hell, Echolls."

He had the nerve to just smile and raise the glass to toast her. With a huff, she glared back at the screen.

Enemy or not, he sure was still as irritating as hell.

* * *

TBC!

_(Author's Note: I know, I know, once more with a long time since the last update. Mostly because of RL but also because for a long while I was unsure just where to begin with this chapter and where to end it, adding the part of Ruskie Business as well already or not. In the end I think it's better to split it up, not just because of the length this chapter already has but also because things between Logan and Veronica had obviously changed between this episode and Ruskie Business, no trace of hostility left, the two of them just acting like any close friends would. Perhaps still a bit awkward from time to time, but it was definitely there. I hope I could show a little how it came to that. As always, thanks for the reviews. And I hope you enjoyed the new chapter!) _


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